The Importance of Being "Woke": Charter Management Organizations and the Growth of Social Consciousness as a School Quality Marker

• In Event: What Is Possible and Desirable: Conceptualizing Race and School Quality Across Local Contexts

Abstract

Objectives:
From the growing race-conscious social movements to uprisings against the Trump administration’s discriminatory policies to data showing the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable communities, the entrenchment of inequity and racism in U.S. society has been laid bare—even for those who have been color-evasive (Annamma et al., 2017) and reluctant to acknowledge how race and power structure daily life. These impulses have caused many to interrogate the inequities perpetrated in U.S. schools and spurred a growing number of movements that demand equitable, culturally responsive, and democratic public school systems (Horsford et al., 2018). Calls for equity and justice in education have led to questions about charter schools, which have become features of urban districts. Opponents often target critiques at charter management organizations (CMOs)—nonprofits that replicate charter schools under a common philosophy and branding (Farrell et al., 2012). Because of their organizational capacity and reports of academic effectiveness, many policymakers and reformers have promoted CMOs (Scott & Holme, 2016). Yet, CMOs have come under fire for the strain they place on traditional public schools, connections to conservative interests, and racialized dimensions of their practice, which include harsh discipline towards Black and Brown youth (Golann, 2015; Goodman, 2013), the predominance of white leadership in their ranks (Scott, 2008), and the pathologizing frames they employ to justify their existence (Buras, 2011). CMOs therefore face politically muddy waters and seek to buffer critiques of the inequities they have been shown to perpetuate.

Theoretical Perspectives, Methods, and Data:
This qualitative investigation explores if or how a population of CMOs in one medium-sized city has sought to counteract these growing criticisms by depicting their schools as socially and racially conscious. Using concepts and tools from the sociology of race (Bonilla-Silva, 2014; Omi & Winant, 1994) and Critical Discourse Analysis (van Dijk, 1993), this paper compares the discourse utilized in CMO social media posts during two two-year spans: 2015-2016 and 2017-2018. Positing 2016 as a pivotal political moment, this study considers if or how CMOs have adapted their communication and marketing to emphasize socially and racially conscious causes and culturally responsive practice as a marker of school quality before and after Trump’s election.

Results and Significance:
Findings reveal that the CMOs increasingly mentioned social and race-conscious issues after the 2016 election. Before 2016, 9% of their 589 social media posts included references to race, culturally responsive practices, or social justice causes. Notably, most of these references occurred during cultural heritage months (e.g., Black History Month), making their circulation concentrated and temporary. By 2018, these references had nearly quadrupled, with 32% of 697 social media posts containing references to restorative justice, culturally relevant programming, and other justice causes, including Black Lives Matter and the movement to create sanctuary cities. These findings suggest that these CMOs have responded to the political moment by increasingly using race and social consciousness as markers of school quality. Yet, questions remain as to if these claims constitute a “performative wokeness” (Watson, 2020) or if they have truly spurred justice-oriented transformation.

Author

• Laura Elena Hernandez, Learning Policy Institute