Divided by Choice

How Charter Schools Diminish Democracy

Ryane McAuliffe Straus

• Publisher: NYU Press
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN:
  9781479835843
• eBook ISBN:
  9781479835850
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Educational Policy
• Index: Politics & International Relations

How race and capitalism shape education

School choice programs—such as vouchers, education savings accounts, and tax credit scholarships—are surrounded by controversy, raising questions about their impact on student diversity and inequality. In this book, Ryane McAuliffe Straus takes up a core part of this divisive debate, exploring why charter schools are reshaping America's education system—and democracy—for the worse.

Drawing on interviews with elected officials, policy entrepreneurs, parents, and activists in Albany, NY, Straus argues that charter schools are a poor alternative to failing public schools, ultimately worsening racial segregation under the guise of providing underprivileged students with access to better education. Taking a wide-ranging view, the author explores why parents, elected officials, and community activists may or may not choose to leave the public education system by enrolling their children in charter schools.

Straus finds that when families of color leave public schools in favor of charter schools this removes their democratic voice and participation, diminishing their political power in a high-stakes area of public policy. Divided by Choice highlights the fundamental flaws of one solution to public education inequalities, at a time when racial tensions are at an all-time high.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• A Note on Language
• Introduction
• 1. Reframing School Choice: The Double Helix of Race and Class
• 2. Not Quite Colorblind: How Racial Capitalism Shapes Education Politics
• 3. Segregation Lives On: The Supreme Court and Policy Failure
• 4. An Unequal City: Albany’s Political Landscape
• 5. City Politics, Policy, and Power: How Charter Schools Develop
• 6. Why Parents Choose: The Limits of Public Education
• 7. Divided by Choice: Race, Class, and Inequality
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgments
• Appendix A: Methods and the Case Study
• Appendix B: Charter School Enrollment in Capital Cities
• Notes
• References
• Index
• About the Author