Who Profits From a Pandemic? A Descriptive and Social Network Analysis of School District–Vendor Contracts

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Eight
  In Roundtable Session: Pandemic Politics: Power, Policy, and COVID-19 Policy Making (Table 1)

Abstract

Districts frequently contract with external vendors, but some scholars have noted that crises can create conditions for private corporations to intrude on public institutions to new degrees (Klein, 2010; Saltman, 2009). This study draws on school board meeting minutes from 21 of the largest U.S. school districts from March through September 2020 to identify the vendors to which districts turned to meet their initial pandemic-related needs. The authors conduct a descriptive analysis of contract purposes and use social network analysis to visualize the funding network of district-vendor contracts. This study speaks to who profits from a pandemic, as well as how the large-scale COVID-19 crisis may serve as an opportunity for private corporations to make stronger inroads into public institutions.

Authors

• Emily M. Hodge, Montclair State University
  Presenting Author

• Amy N. Farley, University of Cincinnati
  Presenting Author

• Tanya Suarez, Montclair State University
  Presenting Author

• Roxana Marachi, San José State University
  Presenting Author