Lessons from Massachusetts Teachers

Resisting Charter School Expansion

Presenter: Kyla Walters

Presenter Status: Faculty

Academic Year: 20-21

Semester: Fall

Department: Sociology

Funding Source/Sponsor: RSCAP

Screenshot URL: https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1Gh2BwjYwwmFWAjntOGqixGBP-yA29WAJ

Abstract:
Massachusetts voters made history in 2016 when they decided on the nation's first charter school expansion ballot referendum. My project uses original qualitative data to examine this heated contest between an interracial coalition spearheaded by teachers' unions and elite philanthropic supporters of charter schools. In this talk, I focus on one key finding: the micrombolization of K-12 school teachers as what I call "everyday spokespeople." Teacher activism is important to understand given the potential - and sometimes realized - teachers' collective prowess in shaping education practices and policices.