The Politics of Market-Based School Choice Research: A Commingling of Ideology, Methods, and Philanthropic Funding

• In Event: 61.057 - The Politics and Landscapes of Philanthropic Involvement in Pre-K–20 Education

Abstract

Conceptualizations of education as an individualistic good— a commodity to be bought, sold, and traded in educational markets— require a reliance on a theory of meritocracy whereby success is ‘attainable’ through education and ‘hard work.’ This ideology serves as the foundation for venture philanthropic support for school choice reforms. In this paper, we examine the cabal of philanthropic organizations that use funding to influence educational reform (Tompkins-Stange, 2016) and, in the process, bolster support for private control and privatization of public goods such as education by propping up market-based education ‘choice’ (Author 1 & Clark, 2018). Additionally, we explore the impact that venture philanthropic and intermediary organizations have had on producing pro-reform educational research.

Authors

• T. Jameson Brewer, University of North Georgia

• Julian Vasquez-Heilig, California State University - Sacramento

• Frank M. Adamson, California State University, Sacramento