The Intergovernmental Politics of School Reopening During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• In Event: Examining the Politics of Local Governance: A New Wave of Research on School Boards

Abstract

Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic resurfaced the importance of the intergovernmental dilemma that confronts the politics of education. During the height of the pandemic, members of the public received conflicting information on who is responsible for decisions on school closure and reopening. This study examines what overall factors drive public support for schools re-opening in person, and whether members of the public are any more or less willing to comply with school re-opening decisions based on their own preferences and the level of government from which the order comes.

Methodology and Findings
Through two rounds of national surveys with an embedded experiment, I find consistent evidence that 1) racial and partisan identification - not contact with COVID - best explain preferences for reopening, 2) those opposing reopening are less likely to comply with government orders, but 3) people are more willing to comply with orders when directed by city and state executives compared to the federal executive, depending on their partisan affiliation.

Significance
This study suggests that politics - not public health - drives public support for schools reopening and compliance with government orders to reopen.

Author

• Jonathan E. Collins, Teachers College, Columbia University