Democratic (Dis)Engagement in School District Decentralization: A Critical Analysis of Actors and Coalitions

• In Event: Moscone Center West Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: Politics, Public Participation, and the Varying Goals of Public Education

Abstract

Leaders of education policy continue to decentralize school districts, particularly in predominately large urban districts, despite mixed results from this reform. In this paper, we seek to explain how decentralization came to fruition through the policymaking process in one of the largest and most diverse districts in the United States that serves urban, suburban, and rural communities. Employing concepts related to advocacy coalitions and critical policy analysis, our analysis suggests that the policymaking process to decentralize this district was complex, messy, and political with clear delineations between those voices that were (un)heard and (un)involved.

Authors

• Carrie Sampson, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College Arizona State University

• Sarah Diem, University of Missouri