ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: MUST
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ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: MUST ACHIEVEMENT GAPS PERSIST? THE STRUGGLE FOR EDUCATIONAL REFORM IN PRINCE GEORGE‘S COUNTY, MARYLAND Cheryl LaChae Jones, Doctor of Philosophy, 2011 Dissertation directed by: Professor Eric M. Uslaner Department of Government and Politics This project begins with the position that the persistence of the academic achievement gap suggests the need for a new way of thinking about the gap and the efforts to eliminate it. To be successful, reform efforts need to address both the school and community issues that impact academic achievement. Community stakeholders must come together as a community to build an education regime that has improving academic achievement as its agenda. This work presents a case study of a community in need of a new education regime, Prince George‘s County, Maryland. The county has a majority African American population and a large black middle class. For years the county‘s school system has produced disappointing results on state assessments. Additionally, the system has been hampered by the existence of a governing regime focused on its own preservation instead of academic achievement. In 2002, county residents interested in educational reform were handed an enormous opportunity to challenge the existing education regime when the elected school board was dissolved by the state legislature. This action came after years of subpar academic performance, after repeated allegations of fiscal mismanagement, and after months of feuding between the school board and superintendent. This work posits the ouster of the elected school board was a focusing event that disrupted the existing regime and provided an opportunity for regime change. An examination of county education politics after 2002 shows that regime change did not occur. The county was unable to move beyond the first stage of a three stage process of regime change. Regime change efforts were hindered by a number of obstacles. The most prominent was the near constant turnover of school system leadership since 2002. Other obstacles to coalition building and regime change include; a political environment hostile to cooperation, a disengaged citizenry, and a dearth of prominent reform advocates. For these and other reasons, the old regime still maintains control of the education arena and the system still struggles to improve academic achievement. MUST ACHIEVEMENT GAPS PERSIST? THE STRUGGLE FOR EDUCATIONAL REFORM IN PRINCE GEORGE‘S COUNTY, MARYLAND by Cheryl LaChae Jones Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2011 Advisory Committee: Professor Eric M. Uslaner, Chair Professor James G. Gimpel Professor Karen M. Kaufmann Professor Betty Malen Professor Irwin L. Morris © Copyright by Cheryl LaChae Jones 2011 Dedication This dissertation is lovingly dedicated to my parents, Annie and Robert Jones, my biggest and longest supporters. ii Acknowledgements Getting to this point has been a long and at times a seemingly endless journey. Yet despite the obstacles along the way, I have finally arrived at the point at which I can say this journey has come to an end and another is about to begin. But before moving on, I find it important to acknowledge all of those along the way who have contributed, in ways large and small, to the successful conclusion of this journey. To everyone who has helped to make this journey a success, I thank you. There are two people who stand out for helping to put me on this particular journey. The first is Dr. Clarence Stone. Dr. Stone introduced me to the study of education politics. He gave me the opportunity to participate in meaningful research that has had an impact on an important public policy. He also afforded me the ability to interact with and learn from a number of extraordinary researchers. They showed me that I could have a career that was both meaningful to me and an asset to the community. Perhaps the person most responsible for me being on this particular journey is my committee chair, Dr. Eric Uslaner. He has always been supportive of me, and more than once prodded me to action. I say Dr. Uslaner is responsible for me being at this point because it was a simple questioned he asked me near the beginning of my time at the University of Maryland that started this journey. One day after class, Dr. Uslaner asked me if I was going to pursue a PhD. Until that point I had not considered pursuing a doctorate. As I later pondered his question, it became clear to me that pursuing a PhD iii was the right course for me. So I must thank Dr. Uslaner for starting me on my journey. Thank you. iv Table of Contents Dedication …….…………………………………………………………………. ii Acknowledgements ….……………………………………...………………...... iii Table of Contents ...……………………………………….………..……….…… v List of Tables ...………………………………………………………………..... ix List of Figures ...………………………………………..……………………... xi Chapter 1: Introduction: The Academic Achievement Gap and Education Politics in a Suburban Community .………….…….………….……………...1 The Complexity of the African American Achievement Gap………………... 6 The School and Community Linkage ...……...…..…………………………. 12 Civic Capacity and Education Reform ...…………………………………… 16 Urban Regime Theory and the Politics of Education ………………………. 18 Regime Change and Policy Change …………………………….………….. 27 Thesis ………………………………………………………….……………. 31 Methods ……………………………………………………..……….……… 32 Contributions and Limitations of the Dissertation ………………………….. 34 Preview of Upcoming Chapters …………………………………………….. 36 Endnotes …………………………………………………………………...... 38 Chapter 2: An Overview of Prince George‘s County………………………….. 39 Introduction …………………………………………………………………. 39 Early History of Prince George‘s County …………………………………... 40 The Suburbanization of Prince George‘s county by the Decades ………….. 41 The 1970s ………………………………………………………………. 43 The 1980s ………………………………………………………………. 45 The 1990s ………………………………………………………………. 47 The 2000s ………………………………………………………………. 48 Prince George‘s County and the Washington Metropolitan Region. ...……...49 The Federal Government in Prince George‘s County ………………………..54 Municipalities in Prince George‘s County …………………………………...57 Prince George‘s Government Structure and Politics ………………………...68 Tax Reform in Prince George‘s County …………….………..……………... 71 Demographic Change Leads to Political Change …………………………… 74 Summary ……………………………………………………………………. 81 Endnotes ………………..…………………………………………..……….. 84 v Chapter 3: Prince George‘s County Public Schools: The Not So Calm Before The Storm ………………..………...……………………..…………………. 88 School Desegregation in Prince George‘s County; A Decades Long Struggl..90 The Pre-Vaughns Years …………………………………….………...…90 Court-Ordered Busing Comes to Prince George‘s County ……………..94 Desegregation in the 1980s: A New Plan Emerges.………...………….100 The Beginning of the End of Court-Ordered Busing …….…………….105 Analysis.. …………….…………………………………………………110 School Performance and MSPAP …………………………………………..112 TRIM and Its Impact on PGCPS …………………………………………...118 The Budget Process: Shared Authority…………………………………118 Education Politics in a Nutshell……………………………………………..126 Endnotes …………………………………………………………………….133 Chapter 4: Political Upheaval: Removal of the Elected School Board………...136 Timeline of Significant Events in the School Board--Superintendent Feud…..138 A New Superintendent is Hired ………………………………..…………..139 Restructuring Gains Momentum in the General Assembly…..……....…….145 The Endgame……………………………….………..……………………...147 The Story Behind the Story: External and Internal Pressures on the Education Regime…..…..…………………………………………………………………151 Increased State Control: The Link between Funding, Accountability, and Education Reform in Maryland ………………………….……..………152 Paying the Price to End Court-Ordered Busing……………………………..155 The Performance Audit and MOP…………………..……….……………...157 The Baltimore Settlement as Template………….………….………………161 The Role of Delegate Howard Rawlings…………..……….……………….163 The School Cartel‘s Response to Attacks………….……….………………165 A Succession of Weak Superintendents………….….……….……………..167 An Entrenched Bureaucracy Will Not Acquiesce………….…….…………169 The School Board-Superintendent Relationship Becomes Problematic Quickly …………………..………………………….………………………172 The School Board Seals Its Fate……..………….…………………………..174 Endnotes……….………….……………………..…………………………..184 Chapter 5: Education Politics in Prince George‘s County after Dissolution Part 1: 2002—2006 …………………………………...…………………….186 Public Reaction to Maryland‘s General Assembly‘s Action……….….…...188 The Appointed Board Takes Over…………………………………………..193 The School Board--Superintendent Relationship: New Cast, Same Story…199 A New Beginning: Enter the CEO………………………………………….206 vi Balancing the Budget…………………………………………………...212 Restructuring the Administration……………………………………….212 Magnet Programs ………………………………………………………214 School Attendance Boundaries ………………………………………...217 Academics ……………………………………………………………...218 The CEO‘s Management Style Creates Tension…………………………….220 The Hornsby Scandal ……………………………………………………….224 The Loss of State Level Reform Advocates ………………………………...232 County Politics ………………………………………………………………234 The Interplay between Race and Class……………………………………...238 Community Involvement ……………………………………………………245 Summary ….………………………………………………………..………..256 Endnotes ………..…………...….………………………………….………..259 Chapter 5: Education Politics in Prince George‘s County After Dissolution Part 2: 2006-2010……………………………………………………………262 Enter the New CEO, Again………………………………………………….263 2006: