ABSTRACT LEWIS, WAYNE D. Post-Punctuation Politics: The Evolution of Charter School Policy in North Carolina. (Under the direction of Drs. Lance D. Fusarelli and Tamara V. Young.) This qualitative case study examines the evolution of charter school policy in North Carolina. The study is theoretically grounded in Baumgartner and Jones’ (1993) punctuated equilibrium theory. First, the study explores the evolution of charter school policy in North Carolina since the passage of charter school legislation in 1996. Second, it tests Lacireno- Paquet and Holyoke’s (2007) hypothesis of policy reversion following the enactment of dramatic new policies. The study’s findings indicate that since the passage of charter school legislation, traditional public school interests in North Carolina, led by the North Carolina Association of Educators, have regained a position of dominance in education policy making. Traditional public school interests’ access to Democratic legislators in the General Assembly has been instrumental in blocking amendments to charter school policy that would raise or remove the statewide cap of 100 charter schools. As such, the study’s findings support Lacireno-Paquet and Holyoke’s hypothesis of policy reversion. Post-Punctuation Politics: The Evolution of Charter School Policy in North Carolina by Wayne D. Lewis A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Educational Research and Policy Analysis Raleigh, North Carolina 2009 APPROVED BY: _______________________________ ______________________________ Dr. Tamara V. Young Dr. Lance D. Fusarelli Committee Co-Chair Committee Co-Chair ______________________________ ______________________________ Dr. Kevin P. Brady Dr. Ryan C. Bosworth DEDICATION To Monica Nicole, my wife and my best friend. ii BIOGRAPHY Wayne D. Lewis, Jr. was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to Wayne (Sr.) and Maria Lewis. He has one younger sister, Jaymee L. Lewis, and is married to Monica (Jones) Lewis of Warren, Ohio. Wayne is a proud graduate of St. Augustine High School in New Orleans. He attended Loyola University in New Orleans for undergraduate study. While at Loyola, Wayne was a member of the Black Student Union (BSU), the Concert Band, the Jazz Band, Genesis Gospel Choir, and the Omicron Phi Chapter of the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. In addition, while an undergraduate student, Wayne worked as a Deputy with the Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff’s Office. Wayne attended the University of Akron in Ohio to complete a master’s degree in the Department of Public Administration and Urban Studies. Wayne began a teaching career after completing a post-baccalaureate teacher certification program at the University of New Orleans. In Louisiana, he taught in the New Orleans Public Schools and in the St. Charles Parish Public Schools. In North Carolina, he taught in the Wake County Public Schools. Wayne’s research interests are education politics and policy, school-based leadership, school choice reform, and race and education. His teaching interests include education politics and policy, school-based leadership, and applied research methods. He has accepted a faculty position in the Department of Educational Leadership Studies at the University of Kentucky beginning in fall 2009. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:6 This dissertation would have been impossible without the assistance of many. First, I give honor to God. The singer and songwriter Andrae Crouch said it best with the words, “All that I am and ever hope to be, I owe it all to Thee.” I give God all of the glory for the things that He has done and continues to do in my life. My family and friends have been a continual source of love and support. I am so appreciative of my parents. It is because of your sacrifices that I have been able to accomplish this. To you I owe a debt that I will never be able to repay. I thank my sister, aunts and uncles, cousins, and extended family (Keith and Renee Smith, Nicole Sanders, Mrs. Yvonne Parks, and the Bowman Family) for their continual encouragement. I am also grateful to Jesse and Ruth Ann Jones, and Michael and Stacey Jones for your support. I love you all and appreciate everything that you have done. I owe a debt of gratitude to my dissertation committee co-chairs. Dr. Young told me at the beginning of my coursework that getting a Ph.D. would not be enough to accomplish my goals. That advice was invaluable. Thank you for your support and for giving me opportunities to grow as a scholar. Dr. Lance Fusarelli, I thank you for always being there to listen, to give advice, to give honest feedback on my work, or whatever else I knocked on your door for. Also, many thanks to my dissertation committee members for their time, patience, and encouragement throughout this process. Dr. Brady, thanks for being a great mentor and friend. Dr. Bosworth, I thank you for pushing me to grow as a researcher, both in iv the classroom and through my dissertation. I am also indebted to the faculty and staff in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. I am so blessed to have had such a dynamic team of mentors. Each of you has been instrumental in my development as a teacher and a scholar, and I greatly appreciate all that you have done. I must give special thanks to Dr. Bonnie Fusarelli for being such a great mentor and friend. Your support and encouragement meant much more than you know. Additionally, I would be remiss if I did not thank my graduate colleagues and friends in the Department of Educational Leadership. I am privileged to have had the opportunity to work with and learn from such a distinguished group of scholars and practitioners. Karen, Yuling, and Patrick, I will surely miss you all in the office. I owe a special thanks to my colleague and friend Shayla Thomas, who read and edited as many drafts of my class papers and dissertation as I wrote. Thank you so much. Finally, my wife Monica has been my rock. She took a chance on a 21-year-old graduate student who did not have a dime, just dreams. She has believed in me even when I doubted myself. With every challenge that we have faced, with God’s grace, we have confronted and overcome it as a team. This dissertation and degree are no exception, and they are as much her accomplishments as they are mine. Thank you and I love you. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION..............................................................................................1 1.1 Charter Schools Background .............................................................................3 1.2 Policy Monopolies, Charter Schools, and Change ............................................6 1.3 Statement of the Problem ...................................................................................8 1.4 Purpose of the Study ........................................................................................11 1.5 Significance of the Study .................................................................................12 1.6 Limitations and Delimitations ..........................................................................14 1.7 Definition of Terms..........................................................................................14 1.8 Summary ..........................................................................................................16 Chapter 2: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ..................................................................18 2.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................18 2.2 The Policy Process ...........................................................................................18 2.3 Interest Group Politics .....................................................................................27 2.4 Problem Definition...........................................................................................37 2.5 The Politics of Charter Schools .......................................................................43 2.6 Summary ..........................................................................................................55 Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY ...........................................................................................57 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................57 3.2 Research Questions ..........................................................................................57 3.3 Appropriateness of Design ...............................................................................59 vi 3.4 Site Selection and Sample ................................................................................60 3.5 Data Collection ................................................................................................62 3.6 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................65 3.7 Confirmability and Credibility .........................................................................66 3.8 Ethical Issues ...................................................................................................67 3.9 Limitations of the Study...................................................................................68 3.10 Subjectivity Statement ...................................................................................69