University of Illinois at Chicago
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Examining Access for Communities of Color in Public School Policymaking

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posted on 2024-08-01, 00:00 authored by Kylee Coney
In 2013, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Board of Education voted to close 50 public schools – instituting the largest public school closure in the U.S. to date. This controversial decision was made despite mass protest from Black and Brown communities leading up to the Board vote. Utilizing case study methodology, Critical Race Theory, and the social construction of target populations theory, I examine the effectiveness of Black and Brown collective voice and political power to influence the creation of 2013 district policy in CPS. I center the experiences of Black and Brown Chicago activists collected in interviews alongside historical data to highlight the degree of access that Black and Brown communities had in CPS to create or influence developing school closure policy during the 2012–2013 school year. I also discuss the practices and structures within CPS that fostered exclusion versus inclusion for communities of color. Overall, I argue that collaborative education policymaking is crucial to an increase in equitable social and academic outcomes for students of color and correlate the lack of genuine community input in education policymaking with negative student outcomes. Further, I argue that district policymaking that excludes Black and Brown community input is racially unjust and combats the construction of transformative policies that could be generated if processes honored community expertise.

History

Advisor

Dr. Benjamin Superfine

Department

Educational Policy Studies

Degree Grantor

University of Illinois Chicago

Degree Level

  • Doctoral

Degree name

Doctor of Philosophy

Committee Member

Dr. Dionne Danns Dr. Jason Salisbury Dr. Michael Thomas Dr. David Stovall

Thesis type

application/pdf

Language

  • en

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