Frames, Policies, and Politics: The Shifting Discourse of School Choice

• In Event: Parental Preferences and Policy Dynamics in School Choice

Abstract

According to media accounts, choice has swept the country with parents angered by COVID-induced decisions demanding freedom to choose from more schooling options. Yet there is little systematic research about how events since 2020 shaped choice policy and rhetoric. Drawing on framing theory and a longitudinal, multiple-case study of policy and discourse in Florida, Louisiana, and Michigan, we find that while initially framed as a way to improve outcomes, correct historical wrongs, or spur innovation, choice was increasingly framed as an unqualified right all families deserved. Our analysis points to a new wave of school choice reform rhetoric that may be contributing to more expansive choice policies and limiting opportunities to address the needs of marginalized students.

Authors

• Julie A. Marsh, University of Southern California

• Hanora Tracy, Tulane University

• Desiree O'Neal, University of Southern California

• Huriya Jabbar, University of Southern California

• Sarah Winchell Lenhoff, Wayne State University

• Laura Steen Mulfinger, University of Southern California

• Carolyn D. Herrington, Florida State University