Public schools in cities across the U.S., cities like Newark, New Jersey, have been the targets of privatization campaigns over the last two decades. Sociologist John Arena asks why rising star and Mayor Cory Booker was unsuccessful at forcing through corporate school reform in Newark, while his rival and successor Mayor Ras Baraka — the one time leader of a grassroots movement for local control of schools — brought charters in.
Resources:
John Arena, Expelling Public Schools: How Antiracist Politics Enable School Privatization in Newark University of Minnesota Press, 2023