Charter Schools, Race, and Urban Space: Where the Market Meets Grassroots Resistance

231 Pages·2014·2.988 MB·English

by  Kristen L. Buras

CHARTER SCHOOLS, RACE,
AND URBAN SPACE
Charter schools have been promoted as an equitable and innovative solution to
the problems plaguing urban schools. Advocates claim that charter schools benefit
working-class students of color by offering them access to a “portfolio” of school
choices. In C harter Schools, Race, and Urban Space, Kristen Buras presents a very
different account. Her case study of New Orleans—where veteran teachers were
fired en masse and the nation’s first all-charter school district was developed—
shows that such reform is less about the needs of racially oppressed communities
and more about the production of an urban space economy in which white entre-
preneurs capitalize on black children and neighborhoods.
In this revealing book, Buras draws on critical theories of race, political economy,
and space, as well as a decade of research on the ground to expose the criminal dis-
possession of black teachers and students who have contributed to New Orleans’
culture and history. Mapping federal, state, and local policy networks, she shows
how the city’s landscape has been reshaped by a strategic venture to privatize pub-
lic education. She likewise chronicles grassroots efforts to defend historic schools
and neighborhoods against this assault, revealing a commitment to equity and
place and articulating a vision of change that is sure to inspire heated debate
among communities nationwide.
Kristen L. Buras is an associate professor in the Department of Educational
Policy Studies at Georgia State University. She is the author of R ightist Multicul-
turalism and coeditor of T he Subaltern Speak. She is also cofounder and director of
Urban South Grassroots Research Collective for Public Education.
This page intentionally left blank
CHARTER SCHOOLS,
RACE, AND URBAN
SPACE
Where the Market Meets
Grassroots Resistance
Kristen L. Buras
Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2015
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2015 Taylor & Francis
The right of Kristen L. Buras to be identifi ed as author of this work
has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Buras, Kristen L.
Charter schools, race, and urban space: where the market meets grassroots
resistance / Kristen L. Buras.
pages cm. — (The critical educator)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Charter schools—Louisiana—New Orleans. 2. Public schools—
Louisiana—New Orleans. 3. Urban schools—Louisiana—New Orleans.
4. Education and state—Louisiana—New Orleans. 5. Business and
education—Louisiana—New Orleans. 6. Education—Louisiana—
New Orleans—Citizen participation. 7. Community and school—
Louisiana—New Orleans. 8. Racism in education—Louisiana—New
Orleans. 9. Educational change—Louisiana—New Orleans. I. Title.
LB2806.36.B86 2014
371.0509763′35—dc23
2013048092
ISBN: 978-0-415-66050-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-06700-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
DEDICATION
for Ian and the children of New Orleans:
may your generation fi nd justice
and honor the elders who struggled to defend
the sacred ground you stand on
for the veteran teachers of New Orleans:
they may try to take your position
but they will never take your place
for the members of Urban South Grassroots Research Collective:
with respect and love
so what has been built and shared
will never be forgotten, lost, or stolen
for friends and allies:
who value truth over promises
recognize the difference
and wade through the muddy waters
with us
for our city:
our feet can’t fail us now
This page intentionally left blank
CONTENTS
List of Figures ix
Credits xi
Abbreviations xiii
1 B lack Education in the South: Critical Race Refl ections on
the Historic Policy Landscape 1
2 T he Assault on Black Children by Education
Entrepreneurs: Charter Schools, Whiteness, and
Accumulation by Dispossession 35
3 K eeping King Elementary School on the Map:
Racial Resistance and the Politics of Place in
the Lower 9th Ward 67
4 T he Closing of Douglass High School: Counterstories
on the Master’s Plan for Reconstruction 92
5 T he Culture of the Education Market: Teach for
America, Union Busting, and the Displacement of
Black Veteran Teachers 125
6 N ew Orleans—A Guide for Cities or a Warning for
Communities? Lessons Learned from the Bottom-Up
(with Urban South Grassroots Research Collective) 160
Appendix: Methodology 201
Index 207
This page intentionally left blank
FIGURES
Figures
1.1 Homer Plessy memorial plaque in Upper 9th Ward 5
1.2 Charter school advertisements on New Orleans’ streets 9
1.3 Map of racial geography of New Orleans 12
1.4 New Orleans’ French Quarter on Mississippi River 14
1.5 John McDonogh statue in Lafayette Square 18
1.6 Citizen with anti-RSD protest sign at BESE public hearing 27
2.1 Diagram of the organization of New Orleans public schools,
2009–2010 40
2.2 Policy ecology of New Orleans public schools: Racial-spatial
reconstruction 42
2.3 Map of public school locations in New Orleans 58
2.4 Map of public school locations in New Orleans, with racial geography 60
3.1 Destruction in Lower 9th Ward after 2005 levee break 68
3.2 Rusted plaque by music classroom in Martin Luther King
Elementary 72
3.3 Mural of Martin Luther King in cafeteria-auditorium of King
Elementary 73
3.4 Memory box made by Martin Luther King Elementary students 81
3.5 Home in Lower 9th Ward with “Roots run deep” yard sign 83
3.6 Alfred Lawless High School in Lower 9th Ward 87
3.7 Architectural plans for rebuilding Alfred Lawless High School 88
4.1 Memorial Arch by Frederick Douglass High School in Bywater 93
4.2 White students protest desegregation of Francis T. Nicholls
High School 100