Burying and Severing: The Organizational Level Impacts of Neoliberal School Governance

• In Event: Pathways to Success: Charter School Structures, Curricula, and Student Outcomes

Abstract

This study explores the impact of neoliberal governance on public school systems in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, focusing on how policies affect school organizational identities and landscapes. Through 14 months of fieldwork and digital archival research, it identifies two key phenomena: "organizational severing" and "organizational burying." Organizational severing occurs when decision-making is fragmented across multiple bodies, leading to disarray within schools. Organizational burying happens when new school identities overlay historical ones, often through repurposing buildings. The paper analyzes how these strategies influence school identities and governance, suggesting they undermine community cohesion and reshape educational governance, profoundly affecting urban educational landscapes.

Authors

• Amanda Lu, Georgetown Public Policy Institute

• Tia R. Williams, Vanderbilt University