From our journals: Navigating school plans post-pandemic
Neoliberalism, COVID, anti-science and the politics of school reopening
By: Kerry Kretchmar, Carroll University and T. Jameson Brewer, University of North Georgia
Published in: Education Policy Analysis Archives, March 2022
This paper explores the politicization of school reopenings in two swing states against the backdrop of rising COVID-19 cases, public health warnings and the hyper-partisan weaponization of “choice” rhetoric by parents to send children back into school. Parental choice partnered with economic considerations placed pressure on school boards to navigate their reopening plans from a partisan frame of reference, Kretchmar and Brewer say. They explore, compare and contrast the landscape of school reopening plans in Wisconsin and Georgia, which both served as pivotal states in the 2020 Presidential election. Within each state they consider two districts that are situated in either a more traditionally conservative or liberal environment.
Review of “Shuttered Schools: Race, community and school closures in American cities”
By: Connie Schaffer, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Published in: Education Review, March 2022
“Shuttered Schools” provides detailed descriptions and analyses of the closure of a litany of public schools across the U.S. The book reveals patterns that are disturbing, but not surprising, for those familiar with American schools and educational policies, notes Schaffer. Most of the book focuses on the process of school closures in specific cities and several chapters include the implications of the closures. “Shuttered Schools would be more compelling and more likely to appeal to readers outside of academia if it incorporated more personal accounts related to school closures,” Schaffer writes. Schaffer compares the tree shadowing the school of the book’s cover to the long cast of racism and its implications within U.S. public education.
Call for submissions from graduate students
Current Issues in Education: The CIE editors are looking for submissions from master's and doctoral students, such as well-written papers, essays or literature reviews in education-related subject areas and methodologies. Learn more about submission guidelines.
About our journals
MLFTC sponsors three innovative, open-access journals on education scholarship. EPAA is a peer-reviewed, international, multilingual and multidisciplinary journal designed for researchers, practitioners, policymakers and development analysts concerned with education policies. Education Review publishes reviews of books on education topics and Acquired Wisdom essays by esteemed educational researchers, and CIE is a peer-reviewed journal led by MLFTC graduate students.