Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Neoliberalism is a pro-capitalist ideology that cycles money and power to the elite
class by deregulating or privatizing the public sphere and is fueled by economic
exploitation and oppression. This dissertation examines the neoliberal construct at work
in the privatization of Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) from an ethnographic lens using
the vantage point of an elected IPS board member.
The literature surrounding the privatization of public schools offers stories from
all over the U.S., however the conditions surrounding the privatization of public
education systems are similar irrespective of geographical location. Common themes
across the country include the de-professionalization of teachers, the circulation of the
narrative myth of failing public schools and charter schools as a positive alternative, and
overarching patterns of continued school segregation, gentrification of inner cities, and
racial migratory patterns of residents affecting school enrollment.
Theoretical framing employed in this study includes Punctuated Equilibrium at
the macro level; sociopolitics and logics of action at the meso level, and critical theory
and politics of resistance at the micro level of analysis. The analysis of data was
conducted thematically and data sources encompass a self-authored blog as well as
personal communications and reflections, news articles, and board documents.
Results of this study illustrate that IPS as an organization underwent a fulcrum
point of change, or ‘Punctuated Equilibrium’ in which it ceased to be an exclusively public institution and began to establish partnerships with private charter school
companies with inherent profit motives, via the ‘Innovation School Network’. There
were many political players involved in orchestrating this change, and those interest
groups and their logics of action are detailed. Implications of this study include
identifying the future spread of school privatization and possibilities for disrupting the
furthering of this neoliberal agenda.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:IUPUI/oai:scholarworks.iupui.edu:1805/29301 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Cosby, Gayle S. |
| Contributors | Scheurich, Jim, Medina, Monica, Rogan, Patricia, Etienne, Leslie K. |
| Source Sets | Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
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