Neoliberalism, School Choice, and Racial Segregation in Indianapolis Public Schools

• In Event: 25.036 - When Education-Focused Neoliberalism Comes to One City, Indianapolis, Local Scholar-Activists Join the Community-Based Resistance

Abstract

The primary objective of this paper is to examine the impact of neoliberal educational reform efforts, particularly school choice options and their impact on racial and ethnic segregation within Indianapolis, Indiana. The Indianapolis Public School district (IPS) is one of the fastest growing districts that have shifted from traditional school districts to portfolio of schools (like New Orleans, Washington, D.C. and Denver), which include both privately managed schools and traditional public schools (Strauss, 2018). In line with the national educational reform efforts, school choice has become synonymous with equitable access to educational opportunities (Fabricant & Fine, 2013). However, we have found this to be misleading and contrary to research that indicates the expansion of school choice increases gentrification of communities of color (Pearman II & Swain, 2017) and, specifically within the Indianapolis context, leads to “higher degrees of racial isolation and decreased racial diversity among school peers” (Stein, 2015, p. 612). In particular, students are moving to charter or choice school options with less diversity than their previous schools, and these charter schools become more segregated over time (Stein, 2015).

Further, despite the fact that magnet schools were created to address racial/ethnic inequity, neoliberal reform efforts and school choice models do not consider historical systemic oppression, thus, those with privilege have more access to school choice options and dispossess communities of color (Lipman, 2011). This is accomplished through dispossession by categorical denial (e.g., the Dream Act), dispossession by cumulative cross-sector disinvestment (e.g., high-stakes graduation requirements, policing in schools), and accumulation by dispossession (e.g., public buildings and opportunities are repossessed for elite interests) (Fabricant & Fine, 2013). Finally, we highlight the impact of dispossession through an in-depth examination into four highly segregated, racially isolated schools in Indianapolis in an effort to disrupt deceptive narratives of equity as a result of educational reform.

To examine neoliberal educational reform efforts in IPS, our research explores “highly desirable” school choice options within Indianapolis Public Schools, the three Center for Inquiry Schools and the Butler Lab schools. We use a critical advocacy research approach (Shields, 2012) that aims to bring particular attention to systemic inequities that exist within the choice-school model and, as a result of our findings, take an activist stance as researchers, parents, and community members to challenge inequitable policies of the district. We draw upon data from the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE), specifically looking at the demography of each school as compared to the overall composition of the district. We also examine the longitudinal enrollment data by race and the ways that the enrollment at each school has changed as the school converted to a choice-model school. Finally, as a result of community critique of these choice schools (e.g., Cosby, 2015), our analysis and findings focus upon the district’s implementation of new policies, such as changing enrollment boundaries and site placement of choice-model schools within middle class and/or gentrifying areas of the district in an effort to dissuade further segregation, and the resulting impact of those policies, if any.

Authors

• Alycia M. Elfreich, Indiana University - Indianapolis

• Gayle S Cosby, Indiana University - Indianapolis