Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-mzp66 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-13T22:05:23.894Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Politics, Markets, and Pandemics: Public Education’s Response to COVID-19

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 June 2021

Michael T. Hartney Open the ORCID record for Michael T. Hartney [Opens in a new window]  and
Leslie K. Finger Open the ORCID record for Leslie K. Finger [Opens in a new window]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic provides a unique opportunity to examine how local governments respond to a public health crisis amid high levels of partisan polarization. As an arena that has historically been relatively insulated from national partisan cleavages, public schools provide a useful window into understanding the growing nationalization of local politics. Leveraging the fact that all school districts had to adopt a reopening plan in fall 2020, we assess the factors that influenced school district reopening decisions. We find that mass partisanship and vested interests best explain the degree to which schools reopened. Republican (Democratic) districts were far more (less) likely to reopen in person, while districts with stronger unions relied more on remote learning. Notably, we find little connection between reopening decisions and indicators measuring the severity of the virus. Finally, public schools were sensitive to the threat of student exit. Districts located in counties with more Catholic schools were somewhat more likely to reopen in person. We assess the implications of these findings for U.S. education policy and the study of local government more generally.

Type
Special Issue Articles: Pandemic Politics
Information
Perspectives on Politics , Volume 20 , Issue 2: Special Issue: Pandemic Politics , June 2022 , pp. 457 - 473
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the American Political Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

A list of permanent links to Supplemental Materials provided by the authors precedes the References section.

Data replication sets are available in Harvard Dataverse at: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/TTBTHP

References

Adolph, Christopher, Amano, Kenya, Bang-Jensen, Bree, Fullman, Nancy, Magistro, Beatrice, Reinke, Grace, and Wilkerson, John. “Governor Partisanship Explains the Adoption of State`wide Mandates to Wear Face Coverings.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly. Forthcoming. DOI:10.1101/2020.08.31.20185371.Google Scholar
American Federation of Teachers.2020. “Reopening School Buildings Safely.” Washington, DC: American Federation of Teachers (AFT). (https://www.aft.org/reopening-school-buildings-safely).Google Scholar
Anzia, Sarah. 2013. Timing and Turnout: How off-Cycle Elections Favor Organized Groups. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anzia, Sarah. 2019. “Looking for influence in all the wrong places: How studying subnational policy can revive research on interest groups.” Journal of Politics 81(1): 343–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, Peter, Green, Erica L., and Weiland, Noah. 2020. “Trump Threatens to Cut Funding If Schools Do Not Fully Reopen.” New York Times, July 8. (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/us/politics/trump-schools-reopening.html).Google Scholar
Berkman, Michael B., and Plutzer, Eric. 2005. Ten Thousand Democracies: Politics and Public Opinion in America’s School Districts. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Burnette, Daarel II. 2020. “Aging Buildings. Poor Ventilation. What Will It Take to Keep Coronavirus Out of Schools?” Education Week, August 12 (https://www.edweek.org/leadership/aging-buildings-poor-ventilation-what-will-it-take-to-keep-coronavirus-out-of-schools/2020/08).Google Scholar
Cano, Ricardo. 2020. “California for All? Few Public Schools Pursuing Elementary Waivers.” Cal Matters, September 24 (https://calmatters.org/education/2020/09/california-public-schools-elementary-waivers/).Google Scholar
Chubb, John E., and Moe, Terry M.. 1990. Politics, Markets, and America’s Schools. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
DeAngelis, Corey, and Makridis, Christos. Forthcoming. “Are School Reopening Decisions Related to Union Influence?” Social Science Quarterly.Google Scholar
Delphi Group. “COVIDcast.” Carnegie Mellon University. (https://delphi.cmu.edu/covidcast/).Google Scholar
DiSalvo, Daniel, and Hartney, Michael T.. 2020. “Teachers Unions in the Post-Janus World.” Education Next 20(4): 46–55.Google Scholar
Figlio, David, and Hart, Cassandra. 2014. “Competitive Efects of Means-Tested School Vouchers.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 6 (1): 133–56.Google Scholar
Figlio, David N., Hart, Cassandra, and Karbownik, Krzysztof. 2020. “Effects of Scaling Up Private School Choice Programs on Public School Students.” No. w26758. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research. DOI:10.3386/w26758.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finger, Leslie K. 2019. “Interest Group Influence and the Two Faces of Power.” American Politics Research 47(4): 852–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foote, Andrew, Kutzbach, Mark J., and Vilhuber, Lars. 2021. “Recalculating…: How Uncertainty in Local Labour Market Definitions Affects Empirical Findings.” Applied Economics 53(14): 1598–1612.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garnett, Nicole Stelle. 2010. “Affordable Private Education and the Middle Class City.” The University of Chicago Law Review 77(1): 201–22.Google Scholar
Gross, Betheny, and Opalka, Alice. 2020. “As Many School Districts Reopen Virtually, the Opportunity Gap Widens for Students Living in Poverty.” Center on Reinventing Public Education. (www.crpe.org/thelens/many-school-districts-reopen-virtually-opportunity-gap-widens-students-living-poverty).Google Scholar
Grossman, Matthew, Reckhow, Sarah, Strunk, Katharine, and Turner, Meg. 2021. “All States Close but Red Districts Reopen: The Politics of In-Person Schooling during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Michigan State University Institute for Public Policy and Social Research Working Paper. DOI:10.26300/cb1f-hq66.Google Scholar
Grumbach, Jacob M. 2018. “From Backwaters to Major Policymakers: Policy Polarization in the States, 1970–2014.” Perspectives on Politics 16(2): 416–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, Douglas N., Ziedan, Engy, and Hassig, Susan. 2021. “The Effects of School Reopenings on COVID-19 Hospitalizations.” Research Report, January 4. National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice (REACH). (https://www.reachcentered.org/publications/the-effects-of-school-reopenings-on-covid-19-hospitalizations).Google Scholar
Hart, P. Sol, and Nisbet, Erik C.. 2012. “Boomerang Effects in Science Communication: How Motivated Reasoning and Identity Cues Amplify Opinion Polarization About Climate Mitigation Policies.” Communication Research. 39(6): 701–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hartney, Michael T., and Flavin, Patrick. 2011. “From the Schoolhouse to the Statehouse: Teacher Union Political Activism and US State education Reform Policy.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly 11(3): 251–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henderson, Michael B., Houston, David, Peterson, Paul E., and West, Martin R.. 2019. “Public Support Grows for Higher Teacher Pay and Expanded School Choice.” Education Next. August 20. (https://www.educationnext.org/school-choice-trump-era-results-2019-education-next-poll/).Google Scholar
Henig, Jeffrey. 2013. The End of Exceptionalism in American Education: The Changing Politics of School Reform. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.Google Scholar
Henig, Jeffrey R., Jacobsen, Rebecca, and Reckhow, Sarah. 2019. Outside Money in School Board Elections: The Nationalization of Education Politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.Google Scholar
Henig, Jeffrey R., Hula, Richard C., Orr, Marion, and Pedescleaux, Desiree S.. 1999. The Color of School Reform. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Hess, Frederick M., and Leal, David L.. 2005. “School House Politics: Expenditures, Interests, and Competition in School Board Elections.” In Besieged: School Boards and the Future of Education Politics, ed. Howell, William G., 228–53. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Hirschman, Albert O. 1970. Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Hirt, Suzanne, Nichols, Mark, and Brugal, Sommer. 2020. “‘Like Saying I Don’t Love Her’: Parents Torn as Some Schools Face Greater Reopening Risks.” USA Today, August 11. (eu.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/education/2020/08/11/covid-cases-back-to-school-reopening-plans/5479488002).Google Scholar
Holbein, John B. 2016. “Left Behind? Citizen Responsiveness to Government Performance Information.” American Political Science Review 110(2): 353–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hopkins, Daniel J. 2018. The Increasingly United States: How and Why American Political Behavior Nationalized. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horowitz, Juliana Menasce. 2020. “Republicans, Democrats Differ over Factors K-12 Schools Should Consider in Deciding Whether to Reopen.” Pew Research Center, August 5 (www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/08/05/republicans-democrats-differ-over-factors-k-12-schools-should-consider-in-deciding-whether-to-reopen).Google Scholar
Houston, David M. 2019. “Polarization and the Politics of Education: What Moves Partisan Opinion?” Educational Policy. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0895904818823745.Google Scholar
Hoxby, Caroline M. 1994. Do Private Schools Provide Competition for Public Schools? Washington, DC: National Bureau of Economic Research.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoxby, Caroline M. 2000. “Does Competition Among Public Schools Benefit Students and Taxpayers?” American Economic Review 90(5): 1209–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoxby, Caroline M. 2003. “School choice and School Competition: Evidence from the United States.” Swedish Economic Policy Review 10:9–65.Google Scholar
Iyengar, Shanto, and Westwood, Sean J.. 2015. “Fear and Loathing across Party Lines: New Evidence on Group Polarization.” American Journal of Political Science 59:690–707.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jung, Carrie. 2020. “With More Districts Remote or Hybrid, Catholic Schools See New Families Enroll.” WBUR. September 30. (https://www.wbur.org/edify/2020/09/30/catholic-school-enrollment-pandemic).Google Scholar
Marianno, Bradley D. 2020. “Compared to What? Changes in Interest Group Resources and the Proposal and Adoption of State Teacher Policy.” Policy Studies Journal 48(4): 982–1022.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meckler, Laura, and Natanson, Hannah. 2020. “For Parents Who Can Afford It, a Solution for Fall: Bring the Teachers to Them.” Washington Post, July 17, (https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/fall-remote-private-teacher-pods/2020/07/17/9956ff28-c77f-11ea-8ffe-372be8d82298_story.html).Google Scholar
Moe, Terry M. 2005. “Teacher Unions and School Board Elections.” In Besieged: School Boards and the Future of Education Politics, ed. Howell, William G., 254–87. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Moe, Terry M. 2009. “Collective Bargaining and the Performance of the Public Schools.” American Journal of Political Science 53(1): 156–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moe, Terry M. 2011. Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America’s Public Schools. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
NCES. 2018. Digest of Education Statistics. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d18/tables/dt18_208.20.asp).Google Scholar
NCES. 2019a. Digest of Education Statistics. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_205.10.asp?current=yes).Google Scholar
NCES. 2019b. Digest of Education Statistics. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_205.50.asp?current=yes).Google Scholar
Oster, Emily. 2020. “Schools Aren’t Super-Spreaders.” The Atlantic, October 9.Google Scholar
Pandey, Erica. 2021. “Private Schools Pull Students Away from Public Schools.” Axios. January 2 (https://www.axios.com/private-schools-coronavirus-public-schools-d6aaf803-d458-4301-a3a7-71364b00a5b0.html).Google Scholar
Panovska-Griffiths, Jasmina, Kerr, Cliff C., Stuart, Robyn M, Mistry, Dina, Klein, Daniel J., Viner, Russell M., and Bonell, Chris. 2020. “Determining the Optimal Strategy for Reopening Schools, the Impact of Test and Trace Interventions, and the Risk of Occurrence of a Second COVID-19 Epidemic Wave in the UK: a Modelling Study.” The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health 4(11): 817–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Petrilli, Michael. 2018. “Where Education Reform Goes from Here.” Education Next, March 22 (www.educationnext.org/where-education-reform-goes-here).Google Scholar
Reilly, Katie. 2020. “Public Schools Will Struggle Even More as Parents Move Kids to Private Ones During the Pandemic.” Time, August 31 (time.com/5885106/school-reopening-coronavirus).Google Scholar
Richards, Erin. 2020. “Trump Says Open Schools. Teachers Say Safety First. As Cases Rise, Unions May Win.” USA Today, August 14 (eu.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2020/08/13/covid-cases-back-to-school-reopening-teachers-union-trump/3312750001).Google Scholar
Rose, Heather, and Sonstelie, Jon. 2010. “School Board Politics, School District Size, and the Bargaining Power of Teachers’ Unions.” Journal of Urban Economics 67(3): 438–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simpson, Brian W. 2020. “The Important and Elusive Science behind Safely Reopening Schools.” School of Public Health Expert Insights. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, August 14 (https://www.jhsph.edu/covid-19/articles/the-important-and-elusive-science-behind-safely-reopening-schools.html).Google Scholar
Smith, Kevin B., and Meier, Kenneth J.. 1994. “Politics, Bureaucrats, and Schools.” Public Administration Review 54(6): 551–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teske, Paul, Schneider, Mark, Mintrom, Michael, and Best, Samuel. 1993. “Establishing the Micro Foundations of a Macro Theory: Information, Movers, and the Competitive Local Market for Public Goods.” American Political Science Review 87(3): 702–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tesler, Michael 2018. “Elite Domination of Public Doubts about Climate Change (Not Evolution).” Political Communication 35(2): 306–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolbrecht, Christina, and Hartney, Michael. 2014. “‘Ideas about Interests’: Explaining the Changing Partisan Politics of Education.” Perspectives on Politics 12(3): 1–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zimmermann, Carrol. 2020. “Protocols: Top Subjects at Catholic Schools That Are Reopening.” Catholic News Service, August 14 (www.catholicnews.com/protocols-top-subjects-at-catholic-schools-that-are-reopening).Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Hartney and Finger supplementary material

Hartney and Finger supplementary material

Download Hartney and Finger supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 137.3 KB
Supplementary material: Link

Hartney and Finger Dataset

Dataset

https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/TTBTHP
Link