Takeover: Race, Education, and American DemocracyState takeovers of local governments have garnered national attention of late, particularly following the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. In most U.S. cities, local governments are responsible for decisions concerning matters such as the local water supply and school affairs. However, once a state takes over, this decision-making capability is shuttled. Despite the widespread attention that takeovers in Flint and Detroit have gained, we know little about how such takeovers--a policy option that has been in use since the 1980s--affect political power in local communities. By focusing on takeovers of local school districts, this book offers the first systematic study of state takeovers of local governments. Although many major U.S. cities have experienced state takeovers of their local school districts, we know little about the political causes and consequences of takeovers. Complicating this phenomenon are the justifications for state takeokers; while they are assumedly based on concerns with poor academic performance, questions of race and political power play a critical role in the takeover of local school districts. However, Domingo Morel brings clarity to these questions and limitations--he examines the factors that contribute to state takeovers as well as the effects and political implications of takeovers on racialized communities, the communities most often affected by them. Morel both lays out the conditions under which the policy will disempower or empower racial and ethnic minority populations, and expands our understanding of urban politics. Morel argues that state interventions are a part of the new normal for cities and offers a novel theoretical framework for understanding the presence of the state in America's urban areas. The book is built around an original study of nearly 1000 school districts, including every school district that has been taken over by their respective state, and a powerful case study of Newark, New Jersey. |
Contents
1 Schools State and Political Power | 1 |
Newark New Jersey and Central Falls Rhode Island | 19 |
3 State Takeovers and Black and Latino Political Empowerment | 47 |
4 Why Take Over? State Centralization and the Conservative Education Logic | 71 |
Cohesive and Disjointed StateLocal Regimes | 99 |
6 Takeovers and American Democracy | 125 |
Epilogue | 143 |
State Takeovers of Local School Districts and Mayoral Control | 147 |
State Takeovers by State School District and Year of Takeover 19892013 | 149 |
Notes on Qualitative Data | 153 |
Notes on Quantitative Data and Analysis | 155 |
Notes | 157 |
| 161 | |
| 173 | |
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Common terms and phrases
abolishment administration African Americans appointed board argued authority Baraka black and Latino Black City Council black mayor black political empowerment Black Representation Booker Central Falls School challenges chapter Christine Todd Whitman city council members communities of color Cory Booker County School District decision Democratic descriptive representation educational outcomes effects elected board elected officials elected school board emergence factors following a takeover following the takeover gained political Jersey Jon Corzine Latino City Council Latino community Latino Mayor Latino political empowerment Latino representation leadership levels of political local school districts locally elected school majority marginalized munity Newark Public Schools Newark school board Newark school district Orleans participation percent population represented Republican Rhode Island role school board meeting school funding Sharpe James significant southern governors Star-Ledger state’s superintendent takeover laws takeovers of local teachers tion U.S. cities Union City urban politics urban regime theory variables