In this conceptual paper, the author explores the relationship between the subprime mortgage crisis and charter school expansion. By situating both cases in a structural analysis of race and political economy, this article demonstrates how Jim Crow segregation established the conditions for contemporary symbiotic relationships between segregation and economic exploitation as evidenced by the concentration of subprime mortgages and charters in Black communities. By centering Black communities, this analysis demonstrates the limitations of charters to advance educational opportunity for historically underserved communities if broader political economic contexts are considered.
This study examines the linkages between charter school board composition, proposed school models, and authorization outcomes in two majority Black cities in the initial years post-state takeover. Findings illuminate how approved applications overlapped with the following factors: majority White boards with affiliations to elite reform networks or non-educational professional backgrounds and “No Excuses” models. Using concepts from The Racial Contract ( Mills, 1997 ), this study evidences how application components work to socio-politically construct a proposed school as legible and show an underexplored mechanism by which power is consolidated during the authorization process in ways that limit local Black political power.
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