Choice as Control: The Ideological Work of Georgia’s Voucher Discourse

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring Marginalized Identities and Liberatory Frameworks for Justice in Teaching, Learning, and Workforce Policies

Abstract

Public education’s perceived failure to prepare students has sparked national debates about alternatives like privatization. In Georgia, Senate Bill 233 creates a $6,500 voucher for private school tuition and other private educational expenses. State politicians frame this bill as promoting school choice, empowerment, and improvement. This empirical study asked: How does the discourse of choice, parental freedom, and investment around this bill reinforce aspects of neoliberalism? Using a framework of relationalities, discourse, and neoliberalism, we conducted micro- and macro-level analyses. We found that the political discourse constructs binaries between public failure and private freedom, commodifying education as a market good. While this implies agency for students and families, it ultimately sustains social inequalities under the guise of choice.

Authors

• Jennifer Glisson, Texas Tech University

• Ronald Orr, Regents School of Charlottesville

• Robert J. Lynn, Texas Tech University

• Joshua M. Cruz, Texas Tech University