Why Take Over?

Abstract

Why do states take over local school districts? Additionally, why are Republicans—usually the champions of local control and decentralization—leading the efforts to take over local school districts? Finally, why do state takeovers disproportionally affect black communities? Relying on historical analysis and an original data set of nearly 1,000 school districts, the chapter argues that although concerns about academic performance are the main public justification for a state takeover, politics was a major factor in the emergence of state takeovers. Since school politics was a source of political mobilization for black communities, it became a central point of contention between conservatives at the state level and black political leadership at the local level. The conservative response was to promote a conservative education logic that has professed a concern with the education of black students and other students of color while investing in the political failure of their communities.