{"id":1291,"date":"2019-09-05T08:00:54","date_gmt":"2019-09-05T13:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=1291"},"modified":"2019-09-04T15:52:30","modified_gmt":"2019-09-04T20:52:30","slug":"school-choice-and-social-inequality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2019\/09\/05\/school-choice-and-social-inequality\/","title":{"rendered":"School Choice and Social Inequality"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_1293\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1293\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/cogdog\/7266250916\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1293 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2017\/02\/7266250916_a0816365d8_z-600x400.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2017\/02\/7266250916_a0816365d8_z-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2017\/02\/7266250916_a0816365d8_z-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/files\/2017\/02\/7266250916_a0816365d8_z.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1293\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by Alan Levine, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>Originally posted February 16, 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The narrow confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education has served as a catalyst for <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2017\/02\/06\/politics\/senate-democrats-to-hold-floor-over-devos-nomination-vote\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">renewed<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SweeneyABC\/status\/830077561715699712\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">conflict<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> over public education in the United States. DeVos is a strong proponent of private education and charter schools, and this concerns supporters of a strong public school system. Social science comparing the two approaches shows distinct benefits of public schools and questions whether more choice in schooling really helps everyone. <\/span><\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The argument for private and charter schooling is based on the benefits of competition: when public schools don\u2019t perform well, offering parents a broader set of choices forces them to compete and improve. While people often worry about public schools \u201cfailing,\u201d it turns out that many schools with low standardized test scores actually do fine in terms of learning outcomes and whether learning persists over the summer.<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sociology.osu.edu\/people\/downey.32\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Douglas B. Downey<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lbj.utexas.edu\/directory\/faculty\/paul-von-hippel\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Paul T. von Hippel<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sociology.pitt.edu\/person\/melanie-m-hughes-phd\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Melanie Hughes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 2008. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1177\/003804070808100302\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are \u2018Failing\u2019 Schools Really Failing? Using Seasonal Comparison to Evaluate School Effectiveness<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sociology of Education. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">81(3): 242 &#8211; 270<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5>School choice can also reinforce inequality because people in poor and minority communities rarely have a similar set of schools to choose from. Many social scientists have found\u00a0that the positive outcomes for students in charter schools are often limited to more privileged or affluent children.<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sociology.wustl.edu\/people\/patrick-denice\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Patrick Denice<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.crpe.org\/experts\/betheny-gross\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Betheny Gross<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 2016. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1177\/0038040716664395\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Choice, Preferences, and Constraints: Evidence from Public School Applications in Denver<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sociology of Education. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">89(4): 300 &#8211; 320<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/sociology.as.nyu.edu\/object\/soc.phd.peterrich\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Peter M. Rich<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/sociology.as.nyu.edu\/object\/jennings.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jennifer L. Jennings<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 2015. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/asr.sagepub.com\/content\/80\/5\/1069.abstract\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Choice, Information, and Constrained Options: School Transfers in a Stratified Educational System<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">American Sociological Review <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">80(5): 1069-1098<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/iei.nd.edu\/people\/iei-fellows\/mark-berends\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mark Berends.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 2015. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.annualreviews.org\/doi\/abs\/10.1146\/annurev-soc-073014-112340\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sociology and School Choice: What We Know After Two Decades of Charter Schools<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \u00a0<em>Annual Review of Sociology<\/em> 41: 159-180<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5>Regardless of the possible\u00a0benefits of competition that supporters of private schools claim, public schools simply do better when they receive more funding &#8212; funding that could be at risk if funds and focus are shifted primarily to private schools.<\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/dianeravitch.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Diane Ravitch<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 2013. <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.penguinrandomhouse.com\/books\/228036\/reign-of-error-by-diane-ravitch\/9780345806352\/\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America\u2019s Public Schoo<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ls.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Vintage.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/sociology.fas.nyu.edu\/object\/richardarum.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Richard Arum<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. 1996. \u201c<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/2096405.\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do Private Schools Force Public Schools to Compete?<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">American Sociological Review<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> 61(1): 29\u201346.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For more, see a previous <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2016\/10\/03\/when-public-school-is-no-longer-public\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TROT on charter schools<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Originally posted February 16, 2017. The narrow confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education has served as a catalyst for renewed conflict over public education in the United States. DeVos is a strong proponent of private education and charter schools, and this concerns supporters of a strong public school system. Social science comparing the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1957,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,85],"tags":[19530,1891,38541,38546,3337,37341],"class_list":["post-1291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inequality","category-politics","tag-charter-schools","tag-competition","tag-inequality","tag-politics","tag-public-schools","tag-school-choice"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1957"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1291"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2632,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291\/revisions\/2632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}