The 86th Legislative Session Look-Back

State legislatures govern many of the daily concerns in education, yet the politics at play in shaping legislators’ approaches to pressing education issues remain underexamined. This paper provides an overview of the education policy issues that defined the 86th Texas Legislative Session. The contributing authors to this critical issue draw on their political and professional expertise to offer their unique perspectives on Texas K-12 and higher education funding, new modes of teachers’ political advocacy, and persistent racial inequities in educational institutions. Together, these pieces provide readers with a review of the achievements and challenges in Texas education policy, as well as future directions for research, policy, and educational advocacy.Educatio

Competing Goals in College and Career Readiness Policy: An Equity Analysis of the 2013 Texas House Bill 5

Since its origins, the U.S. education system has wrestled with competing goals to define the pur-pose and process of public education. Early 19th century advocates for universal public schooling found themselves in the minority against dominant business and philanthropic groups that ad-vocated an educational system that spurred economic competition while maintaining social strat-ification along racial and class lines (Anderson, 1988). Just as the birth of the universal schooling system was forged through opposing views, today’s objectives for college and career readiness encapsulate the tension between conflicting attitudes of the purpose and goals of education. Texas House Bill 5 (2013) represents the latest attempt for the state to direct public secondary school curriculum toward postsecondary readiness goals. The bill implemented a new public high school curriculum structure that divides vocational training and advanced college prepara-tory curriculum through different course sequences or “endorsements.” Endorsements are in-tended to advance the state’s college and career readiness goals while optimizing students’ indi-vidual choice of study. Although proponents of the bill argued against the notion that endorse-ments were “tracks,” the endorsements reflect subject-specific sequences that align with a college area of study or career choice. While there are numerous accounts on the sociocultural impacts of racially and socioeconomically differentiated curricular tracks in schools (e.g., Anderson, 1988; Gonzáles, 1999), this review applies economic theories of social mobility and competition to ex-plain the context of the competing educational goals contained within HB 5 and the potential implications for inequitable social stratification as a result.Educatio

Making Waves: Districts as Policy Mediators in the Flow of School Gentrification

Gentrification is happening in cities all across the United States. Consequently, some Black communities that were intentionally segregated and under-resourced are experiencing capital investments and demographic changes. These gentrification-induced racial and socioeconomic shifts impact many local institutions, namely school districts. Given this, there is an emerging body of research on schools and gentrification. However, less research has examined the actions of school districts as institutional actors in gentrification. This study examines how two school districts’ actions mediate school gentrification. Using a theorization of gentrification as a process of racial capitalism, we draw on interviews with 26 principals across both districts. Our findings suggest that districts’ actions influence school gentrification by mediating the movement of Black and other youth of color to various schools through cycles of differential investments across the districts. We conclude with implications for future research. </jats:p

Gentrifying Neighborhoods, Gentrifying Schools? An Emerging Typology of School Changes in a Gentrifying Urban School District

An increasing number of central cities across the U.S. are experiencing a growth in white middle-class population, which is associated with gentrification in historically disinvested and racially segregated urban neighborhoods. These changing neighborhood dynamics are starting to shift the context of urban schooling in some districts across the nation. While we know that racial and socioeconomic demographic shifts are associated with neighborhood and school gentrification, there is little conceptual clarity about how school gentrification unfolds over time and the varying conditions of schools in gentrified neighborhoods. To advance scholarship on the topic, researchers need an organizing framework. This study addresses this gap by drawing on existing research, 16 years of Census and American Community Survey data, and 6 years of district data in Austin, Texas. Highlighting Austin, an urban city with growing neighborhood gentrification, we put forth a typology to explain the experiences of schools in the district. We conclude with implications for future research. </jats:p

Community Schools as an Urban School Reform Strategy: Examining Partnerships, Governance, and Sustainability Through the Lens of the Full-Service Community Schools Grant Program

The community school concept has become a popular school reform model that has gained traction in urban school systems. To date, however, few studies have looked across contexts to see how various communities are conceptualizing the reform: the aims that are articulated, the partnerships that are being created, or sustainability plans. In this study, we explore these questions through an analysis of 32 funded proposals from the federal Full-Service Community Schools grant program. We examine the goals, aims, and plans of reformers and ask questions about governance, inclusion, and sustainability, situating our analysis in the policy implementation literature. </jats:p