Pandemic Politics: District-Level Decision Making in School Reopening

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: The "Distance" Between Us: COVID-19 and the Politics of Education During a Pandemic

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between district-level decision making and public political pressures during the height of the COVID pandemic. We used school districts’ COVID-19 Preparedness and Response plans and 2018 Michigan election results from a two-stage stratified sample of all Michigan school districts. We fit an OLS regression model to see how factors like political climate, socioeconomic status, race, and location predicted compliance in plans. On average, one standard deviation increase in vote difference corresponds to 9.5 percent increase in the compliance score. Implications for leadership preparation are discussed.

Authors

• Davis Clement, Eastern Michigan University

• Talgat Bainazarov, Michigan State University

• Briana Coleman, CASEL