One State’s Historical and Contemporary Resistance and Obstruction to Landmark Federal Education for Equitable Education Reform

• In Event: Whose Histories? Whose Futures? Coloniality, Control, and Counterstories in Schooling

Abstract

From the landmark Brown v Board decision through the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 via The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, states have often implemented strategies that undermine the intent of these federal policies. This analysis traces the historical implementation of one state’s responses to Brown v Board and No Child Left Behind and substantiates that despite continuous assertions of federal intent for educational equity, states have repeatedly employed strategies that undermine federal intent. Using a bottom-up theoretical lens (Sabatier, 1986), this paper combines both historical analysis and qualitative research to reveal that the state of Georgia has consistently obstructed federal legislation dating as early as Brown v. Board.

Authors

• Sheryl Jones Croft, Kennesaw State University

• Michelle A. Purdy, Washington University in St. Louis