Building the Federal Schoolhouse: Localism and the American Education State

353 Pages·2014·2.25 MB·English

by  Douglas S. Reed

Building the Federal Schoolhouse
STUDIES IN POSTWAR AMERICAN POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
Steven Teles, Series Editor
Series Board Members
Paul Frymer
Jennifer Hochschild
Desmond King
Sanford Levinson
Taeku Lee
Shep Melnick
Paul Pierson
John Skrentny
Adam Sheingate
Reva Siegel
Thomas Sugrue
The Delegated Welfare State: Medicare, Markets, and the Governance
of Social Policy
Kimberly J. Morgan and Andrea Louise Campbell
Rule and Ruin: The Downfall of Moderation and the Destruction of the
Republican Party, From Eisenhower to the Tea Party
Geoffrey Kabaservice
Engines of Change: Party Factions in American Politics, 1868–2010
Daniel DiSalvo
Follow the Money: How Foundation Dollars Change Public School Politics
Sarah Reckhow
The Allure of Order: High Hopes, Dashed Expectations, and the Troubled
Quest to Remake American Schooling
Jal Mehta
Rich People’s Movements: Grassroots Campaigns to Untax the One Percent
Isaac William Martin
The Outrage Industry: Political Opinion Media and the New Incivility
Jeffrey M. Berry and Sarah Sobieraj
Artists of the Possible: Governing Networks and American Policy since 1945
Matt Grossman
The First Civil Right: Race and the Rise of the Carceral State
Naomi Murakawa
Building the Federal
Schoolhouse
Localism and the American Education State
DOUGLAS S. REED
1
1
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© Douglas S. Reed 2014
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reed, Douglas S., 1964–
Building the federal schoolhouse : localism and the American education state / Douglas S. Reed.
pages cm
Summary: “Creating a truly national school system has, over the past fifty years, reconfigured local
expectations and practices in American public education. Through a 50-year examination of Alexandria,
Virginia, this book reveals how the ‘education state’ is nonetheless shaped by the commitments of local
political regimes and their leaders and constituents.”—Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978–0–19–983848–6 (hardback)
1. Education and state—United States. 2. School improvement programs—United States. I. Title.
LC89.R44 2014
379—dc23
2013047758
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To my father, Donald James Reed, and to the memory of my mother,
Caron Ann Reed.
The past is a great resource for the imagination;
it adds a new dimension to life, but on condition that
it be seen as the past of the present,
and not as another and disconnected world.
John Dewey, Democracy and Education
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xix
List of Abbreviations xxiii
Alexandria City Public School Superintendents, 1933–2013 xxv
1. The Local Politics of Federal Education Reform 1
PART ONE RACE AND REFORM 27
2. Race and the End of a Regime 31
3. Racial Change, Conflict, and the Incorporation of Interests 58
PART TWO THE LOCAL POLITICS OF THE FEDERAL
COMMITMENT TO EQUALITY 97
4. The Politics of Exit 101
5. Special Education and the Politics of Services 130
6. From Arlandria to Chirilagua: English-Learners and the
Catch-22 Education State 159
vii
viii Contents
PART THREE THE POLITICS OF ACCOUNTABILITY 189
7. Local Activism and Accountability Politics 193
8. The Titans Meet the State: Federal Accountability
and School Transformation 216
9. Conclusion: Learning from the Education State 246
Notes 257
Bibliography 293
Index 311
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figures
4.1 Total voucher participants by semester, fall 1959–fall 1964 105
4.2 Schools attended by voucher recipients, fall 1959–fall 1964 106
4.3 Alexandria, Virginia: Desegregated elementary student and elementary
voucher recipient locations 108
4.4 Desegregated elementary school attendance zones 109
4.5 Alexandria city public school enrollment, total and as percentage of city
population, 1960–1990 124
4.6 Partisan composition, Alexandria City Council, 1964–1997 126
4.7 Democratic presidential vote, Alexandria and Virginia, 1964–1996 127
5.1 Percentage of enrollment identified as special needs, Alexandria,
1983–2009 155
5.2 Per pupil expenditures in Alexandria, 1960–2010 156
5.3 Percentage of Alexandria’s general fund to schools 157
7.1 Alexandria and environs, percentage of 3rd graders passing English SOL,
1998–2005 210
7.2 Alexandria and environs, percentage of 3rd graders passing Math SOL,
1998–2005 210
7.3 Alexandria and environs, percentage of 5th graders passing English SOL,
1998–2005 211
7.4 Alexandria and environs, percentage of 5th graders passing Math SOL,
1998–2005 211
7.5 Alexandria and environs, percentage of 8th graders passing English SOL,
1998–2005 212
7.6 Alexandria and environs, percentage of 8th graders passing Math SOL,
1998–2005 212
8.1 Alexandria elementary school AYP performance under No Child Left
Behind, 2003–2011 222
ix