Not Quite Public: Legal Framing and Transparency in School Choice Marketing Across New Jersey

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 4:15 pm - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: The role of Policy and Law in Shaping Solutions to Problem of Practice in Schooling

Abstract

This qualitative document analysis examines how ten New Jersey school choice programs publicly frame their legal obligations across nearly 750 artifacts, including websites, handbooks, and enrollment materials. Drawing on legal consciousness theory and critical policy studies, the study investigates how schools signal—or obscure—compliance with rights-based mandates (e.g., IDEA, Title IX, NJAC 6A). Findings reveal discursive strategies that minimize or ambiguate legal status, particularly in charter and magnet schools, where public funding meets private-style branding. This work contributes to transparency and equity scholarship by identifying how institutional self-representation affects public accountability. The study informs debates on school choice legality and supports efforts to clarify compliance communication in contested policy environments like Latino Action Network v. New Jersey.

Author

• Steven Michael Carlo, Monmouth University