New Political Economy of Urban Education

Pauline Lipman is Professor of Educational Policy Studies in the College of Education, University of Illinois-Chicago.

"Refreshingly, [Lipman] is attempting to seek answers, as she probes the ways in which the changing urban landscape has shaped (re-shaped) urban education…Like the rest of us, [she] holds out hope in this book for a transformation of values and of systems, so that everyday people can reclaim the public sphere, public schools, and continue to hold accountable those responsible for governing our everyday lives."—Teachers College Record"In this incisive intervention, Paula Lipman offers a devastating critique of the "common sense" assumption that markets can solve enduring urban problems such as racial exclusion, concentrated poverty and public school "failure." Written with theoretical authority and elaborated through extensive on-the-ground analyses of contemporary Chicago, this book provides the most comprehensive exploration to date of the bitterly contested interface between neoliberal urbanism and educational policy. This is activist scholarship at its very best: Lipman's call for a new "right to the city" oriented towards human flourishing and social justice rather than private profit will resonate powerfully among all those struggling to roll back and supersede contemporary forms of market fundamentalism."—Neil Brenner, Professor of Sociology and Metropolitan Studies, New York University"In cities throughout the United States, fierce battles over the future of American education are being waged. In this important new book, Pauline Lipman explains why the conflicts over charter schools, the role of parents and teacher unions in school governance, and the closure of ‘failing schools,’ is fundamentally related to who will control the future of American cities. Using Chicago as setting for her analysis, Lipman explores the dynamics within the struggles that have occurred in public education in recent years and the underlying interests that propel the protagonists. This detailed and illuminating study is a must read for anyone seeking to understand how the controversies over education policy will shape America's future."—Pedro A. Noguera, Peter L. Agnew Professor of Education, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University"This book confirms Pauline Lipman’s reputation as an outstanding critical education scholar. A must read for anyone who cares about urban education, it shines a light on the ways in which the privatization of urban schooling excludes and subordinates low income and minority populations and shows what might be done to build a more democratic and socially just alternative."—Sharon Gewirtz, Professor of Education, King’s College London"Written for both a general and academic audience, the book uses theoretical concepts in a manner that does not simplify the complexities of the phenomena they analyse but rather enriches our understanding of the concepts through their explication with interviews, policy analysis, and concrete examples. The New Political Economy of Urban Education should be widely read as an example of how to fuse activism and research and as an exemplary piece of intersectional research that contributes to thediscussion on what to create after capitalism." —Alberta Journal of Educational Research

• 1. Introduction 2. Neoliberal Urbanism and Education Policy 3. Dismantling Public Schools, Displacing African-Americans and Latinos 4. Politics of Mixed-Income Schools and Housing: Moralizing the Poor, Building the Neoliberal City 5. With Cristen Jenkins: Venture Philanthropy—From Government to Governance 6. Choice and Empowerment—The Cultural Politics of Charter Schools 7. Education and the Right to the City—Another World is Possible and Necessary