School Choice in Milwaukee

For decades educational reformers have identified school choice programs as a strategy for restructuring public school systems. Practically every state has considered or adopted a school assignment program that qualifies as a "choice" initiative, one in which students and parents have some choice in school selection. Increasingly, school districts are contemplating plans that include a choice of private, as well as public, schools. One of the most far-reaching of these school choice plans is the Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Parental Choice Program, which, as legislated, allows parents to use vouchers to enroll their children in both sectarian and nonsectarian schools in the community. This paper explores the evolution of school choice in Milwaukee and examines the extent to which school choice is representative of other privatization efforts currently under way in the United States.     

A Political Explanation of Policy Selection: The Case of Urban School Reform

Amid the torrent of reform activity in urban school systems, some proposals fare better than others. The traditional technocratic presumption is that reforms are chosen for their educational merit. I suggest that, to the contrary, institutional incentives encourage urban policymakers to emphasize symbolic appeal. Data from a 1995 study of 57 urban districts are used to compare the fate of two school reforms. The more symbolically attractive reform was supported, proposed, and enacted much more widely, although neither research nor observer responses suggested its superiority.     

Determinants of Residential Location Choice: How Important Are Local Public Goods in Attracting Homeowners to Central City Locations?*

Abstract. A hybrid conditional logit choice model is estimated using data on the characteristics and destination of homeowners who engaged in intrametropolitan moves among 17 school districts within the Columbus, Ohio area in 1995. The model is used to test the relative influence of local fiscal and public goods versus household‐level characteristics in determining household location choices across central city and suburban school districts. Results provide evidence of both a “natural evolution” of households to the suburbs, due to job location, residential filtering, and household income and lifecycle effects, and “flight from blight,” due to lower school quality, higher crime levels, and lower average income levels in the city. In comparing the magnitudes of these variables, we find that school quality exerts the strongest influence: a 1‐percent increase in the school quality of the city district increases the probability of choosing a city residence by 3.7 percent. In contrast, the effects of household income and other individual characteristics are relatively modest. The findings provide support for a “flight from blight” suburbanization process that is dominated by differences in neighborhood quality between the city and suburbs. An implication is that investments that promote central city development and reduce suburbanization are justified on efficiency grounds if negative externalities are generated by increased concentration of poverty, crime, and low school quality.     

Mexican Public Sector Food Policy Under Agricultural Trade Liberalization

Mexico has enjoyed one of the Third World's most successful food production systems, based on a complex pattern of public sector intervention. Since 1982, the public sector has withdrawn, in a remarkably Steadfast commitment to privatization, external stabilization, and trade liberalization. This article traces the key elements of that process, and their likely impacts on traditional political goals of food security progressive social policy in the countryside, and external sector dependence. The principal argument is that privatization and trade liberalization leave poor agriculturalists vulnerable, but undoubtebly offer fiscal gains to the state and benefits to urban consumers, especially in light of reduced subsidies.     

租购同权”政策对学区房溢价的影响研究——基于空间特征价格模型的广州实证

在公共服务对住房市场的影响研究领域，学校质量的资本化效应一直是重要话题。本文借鉴边界固定效应思路，使用广州市2016和2019年136所重点小学周边学区房与相邻非学区房的配对面板数据，利用空间特征价格模型定量测度了不同质量等级教育资源的资本化效应，使用双重差分模型检验了“租购同权”政策对重点小学学区房房价和租金溢价的影响。研究结果表明：①广州市教育质量已部分资本化于住房价格和租金之中，且教育资源越优质，资本化程度越高。②“租购同权”政策的实施，并未带来学区房房价和租金溢价的显著变化。③“租购同权”政策对不同质量等级的重点小学学区房房价影响存在异质性，政策实施后省级重点小学的学区房溢价上升，区级重点小学的学区房溢价下降。④“租购同权”政策对于不同区域重点小学学区房房价和租金溢价的影响无显著差异。本文的研究结论可以为制定教育资源供给与配置的均衡化和公平性政策提供参考。     

Public School Search Policies and the "Politics of Sin"

In recent years, high school students have been subjected to greater levels of drug searching and surveillance on school grounds. The effect of such searching is potentially wide-ranging, because public schools "play an important role in socializing students according to the norms and mores of society" ( Vergari, 2000 ). Using the "morality politics" framework, this study reports and analyzes the presence of random, suspicionless drug searches in the Nebraska public schools. Whereas most studies of morality policy have focused on the state as the unit of analysis, we consider the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of principals in regards to drug policies in schools. Our findings, based on a survey of 181 high school principals, reflect several features of morality policy. There has been a significant rise in the number of random drug searches, despite the principals' observation that these measures neither lessen drug use nor catch perpetrators. The most important predictors of drug policy are pressure from local sources, perception of the problem within the community (but not the schools), and the racial composition of schools. Principals articulate limited concern for student rights, and students largely accept searches without resistance. In the discussion, we consider these findings in light of recent court rulings and introduce the potential ramifications of waging the drug war in our nation's classrooms and hallways.     

Exploring The Basis For Parental Choice in Public Education

From the perspective of public choice theory, this article explores the relationship between student performance and certain aspects of school organization and operation. Employing multiple regression and analysis of variance techniques, we found that variation in comprehensive student assessment test scores can be explained best by variables such as income, district size, and the extent of classroom crowding. Student performance was lowest in the largest districts. Student performance tended to be better in those school districts with relatively higher incomes, fewer schools, and a lower proportion of oversized classes. These findings confirm the utility of readily available information about public schools as a basis for parental choice and lend support to public choice criticism of large, centralized, educational organizations.     

School Choice and Educational Stratification

Recent growth in the number of school choice programs across the country has ignited debate on the stratifying effects of these programs. In the context of interdistrict open enrollment, this paper analyzes—both theoretically and empirically—how choice programs affect stratification levels through the mechanisms of (i) the relative characteristics of program participants and nonparticipants and (ii) the schooling choices of different groups of program participants. The theoretical analysis uses Monte Carlo simulation techniques to analyze a hypothetical world where interdistrict choice is available to students in three school districts that are allowed to vary in student composition, the type of students who take advantage of the interdistrict choice program, and schooling choices of students who open enroll. The results of these simulations provide an understanding of the conditions under which an interdistrict open enrollment program leads to increases, decreases, or no changes in stratification levels. The empirical analysis uses data from the universe of students attending Colorado public schools in 2009–10 to examine how the state's interdistrict choice program affects stratification levels. It also analyzes the factors responsible for any increases or decreases in stratification and finds both participation patterns and differences in schooling decisions across groups to play important roles. The paper concludes with a discussion of its implications for research and policy.     

The fantasy of access: Neoliberal ordering of a public beach

Neoliberal governance has led to the progressive privatization and ordering of urban public spaces, restricting their use as domains of political expression and visible identity formation. While the processes of privatization have taken a variety of forms, the end result either produces new privately-owned spaces or restricts access and behavior in extant public space. A programmatic, bourgeois-public space emerges where a fantasy of open-access occludes the experience of exclusion. This fantasy of inclusive public space is upheld by dualistically countering its faux-democratic state management against private ownership. Though scholars have theorized the neoliberal production of public spaces elsewhere, this paradigm has rarely been applied to the large and proximate public beaches and coastlines that bound US lands. This paper seeks to complicate our understanding of the process of privatization by countering legal and experiential exclusions that govern access to beaches in Connecticut. A study of the Eastern Point beaches in Groton, Connecticut is used to analyze the impacts of a Connecticut Supreme Court case that struck down residents-only restricted beaches. Supported by empirical data from beachgoers at the small public and private beaches, the mechanics of exclusion are shown to hinge upon race class and locality. Though Connecticut beaches are now more legally inclusive, results from this research indicate that the ruling has had negligible effects upon the practice of social exclusion from the beach. Using anarchist theories of spatial practice, I suggest that a democratic public space can only be achieved through occupation and embodied resistance to neoliberal ordering.     

How Much Privatization?

Although it is widely assumed that there has been a surge in the use of alternative service delivery methods, few empirical studies have examined the degree to which privatization actually has increased. This study examines the levels of privatization in cities over a 10–year period. The findings suggest that the use of privatization increased significantly between 1982 and 1992 for the 596 cities included in this inquiry.     

It Doesn't Matter: Some Cautionary Findings About Sex and Representation From School Committee Conversations

One of the most important findings in the field of gender and politics is that women elected officials at the state and national levels do a better job than men of representing the interests of women, children, and families. This paper uses school committees to ask the same question about women elected officials at the local level. Thus the question that guides this paper is: Does it matter for women if women are elected to this local political institution? If it does matter, then we should “hear” women's distinct ways of participating through their discussions at committee meetings. The study finds, in contrast, that in this political institution women and men behave in remarkably similar ways when separated by committee roles, and that women elected officials in this political institution spend very little time addressing issues affecting girls in public education.     

美国共运史研究中的正统派与修正派

美国共运研究中存在着许多不同的派别,其中最有影响的是正统派和修正派。正统派以延续传统史学的方法为特征,修正派受新社会史和文化史的影响,以异端性的方法来重新阐释美共历史为特征;正统派持一元论、精英史观的立场,修正派则坚持多元论、民众参与的立场;正统派坚持外来论,修正派赞同本土论;正统派重裁判,修正派重理解。个人经历、知识背景和时代背景的不同,是造成两派对立的三个主要因素。     

Learning from Schools: School Choice,Political Learning,and Policy Feedback

This article investigates the policy feedback and political learning effects of school vouchers. Of particular interest is how market‐based policies affect the likelihood that program participants will connect their experiences with the policy to the government. I examine parent survey data from an evaluation of the Milwaukee school voucher program. I find that voucher parents are more likely than public school parents to perceive that the government has influenced their child's schooling and to believe that their experiences with their child's school have taught them about how government works. Further, voucher parents report that their experiences with the policy have made them more politically active. While majorities of voucher and public school parents support increased public school expenditures, there is some evidence that school vouchers may decrease support for public schools.     

The Politics and Administration of Privatization

Privatization grows out of the theoretic constructs of public choice theory. Through the nurturing efforts of those such as E. S. Savas, privatization has been transplanted from the academic greenhouse to the fields of practical government Against the field of fads–empowerment, total quality management, reengineering, strategic planning, and benchmarking–privatization stands out.
Privatization has endured and spread. To many, privatization restores the dynamic balance of government and individual freedom. To others, privatization, like kudzu (initially a solution to soil erosion in the South), threatens to crowd out all other forms of "public" service delivery.     

Lessons From Privatization Task Forces

This study provides evidence on an aspect of privatization that is increasing in popularity yet rarely considered in the literature: the effect that private-sector task forces have on privatization efforts. It uses case studies from Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, to provide evidence on the role of task forces in reengineering government and suggests how future privatization efforts can benefit from this knowledge. Specifically, it suggests that task forces need to establish realistic timetables, understand that there are fundamental differences between the public and private sectors, and work without predetermined biases to achieve desired ends. In addition, they need to identify services that are appropriate for privatization, understand the nature of privatization, and accept both the strengths and weaknesses of it. While the results of privatization endeavors may vary, they may be enhanced by adopting a new awareness of how private-sector task forces influence privatization efforts.     

Privatization in Bangladesh: The Emergence of ‘Family Capitalism’

The programme of state enterprise privatization pursued by the government of Bangladesh since 1975, largely under the influence and financial conditions of the aid agencies, has been subject to widespread debate. In 1991, at the suggestion of the World Bank, the government of Bangladesh formed the Privatization Board to ensure better outcomes of privatization. This article investigates whether firms privatized under the auspices of the Privatization Board up to 1996 were adding to the nation's economic growth or — as critics claimed — to individual families’ pockets. More specifically, it examines whether enterprises privatized in 1991–6 reversed previous losses and introduced better management controls, leading to increased investment, productivity, and overall organizational effectiveness and efficiency. The major findings are not supportive of privatization policy, indicating that the performance of privatized enterprises has not improved significantly. Without denying the economic problems of Bangladesh's public enterprises, past and present, this article questions the performance of privatized companies in terms of their declining profitability and productivity; employment conditions and trade union and individual rights; altered distributions of value added in absolute and relative terms; and serious lack of financial transparency and accountability.     

Paying Attention to Politics: Public Responsiveness and Welfare Policy Change

In order for the democratic process to work properly, it is vital that the public pays attention to politics and signals its opinions and preferences back to its representatives; if this is not the case, representatives have less incentive to represent. This article deals with the question of whether and how the public responds to welfare policy change. The thermostatic model departs from the assumption that the public responds to policy change with negative feedback, in relation to its preferred level of policy. The empirical analysis tests this model on public responses following the implementation of a consumer's choice model in Swedish primary health care. Did the reform trigger a thermostatic response from the public, and how should this be interpreted? A contribution in relation to previous research is the inclusion of ideological orientation and proximity, variables which, I argue, condition the nature and direction of public responsiveness. The study was designed as a natural experiment in which preferences of privatization of health care were measured before and after the health care reform of 2009/2010. The results provide partial support for the thermostatic model: preferences for further privatization decrease after the reform, but primarily within one subgroup. Additionally, public responses are demonstrated to vary according to ideological orientation, where the right‐oriented react thermostatically and the left‐oriented do not. The article contributes to a further understanding of the relation between policymaking and public opinion and to the expansion of thermostatic theory.     

SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGETARY ELECTIONS: A COST REDISTRIBUTE PROCEDURE?

This article examines, theoretically and empirically, school district budgetary election voting behavior. In the study it is argued that the change from fiscally independent to state-funds dependent school district operations may have altered the traditional cost/quantity-based school budgetary voting behavior. With the assumption of state aid schemes to school districts, the school district budgetary election processes may have become political procedures by which the cost of school district operations has been distributed to broader tax bases.     

广州城市公共服务设施供给空间分异研究

转型期以来,政府治理制度的变革及公私部门关系的重构使我国城市公共服务设施供给主体、供给机制逐步多元化,其分布形态也由空间均衡趋向分异。本文以广州为案例,研究结果表明:广州城市公共服务设施分布总体上呈核心-边缘空间格局,区域供给规模差异大且与人口分布不相协调,区际及不同类型设施的空间聚集水平差异显著;传统计划经济条件下城市公共服务设施空间均衡分布模式被市场经济条件下高收入地区指向的集中布局模式所取代,表现出类似西方国家城市公共资源配置的"反比例服务法则"。