Volume 3 - Issue 1 - DBU Journal for K-12 Educational Research - Page 8

6 Charter theory is identified by dimensions labeled Competition, Autonomy, Choice, and Productivity. Hastings (1999) set the stage for understanding the evolution of reform ideologies in public education in America. His work highlighted a shift from market-based reformers, to common school reformers and large-scale public education systems, back to market-based reformers like Milton Friedman (1982). Markowitz (2001) identified John Dewey as a contrast to market based reform ideologies. Her work highlighted four dimensions of what she referred to as “Deweyan democracy.” The first of these dimensions is association. Association according to Markowitz, (2001) speaks to the notion of identity in a society. Dewey’s second category of democracy, connection, is inexorably connected to the idea of association. While association provides the context for life in community, connection speaks to the interactions within that community and specifically to the attention to synergistic or mutually beneficial interactions within that community. The third category of Deweyan democracy, communication, draws attention to the manner in which the connections within society take place. The final component of Deweyan democracy is the category of growth. Growth, according to Dewey, is the measure of the efficacy of a society. Opposite Deweyan democracy is market theory. One of the chief proponents of market theory in the United States was Milton Friedman. As an opponent of the American public education system, Friedman (1982) identified a primary point of contention, the government monopoly. In line with his other economic principles, Friedman believed that in terms of economy, the monopoly-controlled education market represented the least effective model for school reform. The work of Friedman to advance market-based reform efforts continued into the 1990s with reformers like Chubb and Moe (1990) and Lieberman (1995). This emphasis on market reform is characterized by Markowitz (2001) through what she calls “charter theory.” Charter theory contains four key dimensions. Markowitz’s (2001) first characteristic of the charter theory is competition. Competition, as identified by free market economists, is a vehicle for achieving in economics what is commonly known as “pareto optimality.” This optimality can best be understood as a sense of equilibrium in educational markets where all participants benefit to the greatest extent possible. The second characteristic of Markowitz’s (2001) charter theory framework is that of autonomy/accountability. In line with Friedman’s (1982) point of view, existing government-run educational systems are characterized as bloated, bureaucratic, inflexible, and immovable. Competitive markets would again answer this difficulty by providing educators who had greater flexibility, autonomy, and responsiveness than their traditional, government-run, counterparts. This idea was bolstered in Friedman’s lifetime by the birth of educational alternatives like charter schools. The third characterization within Markowitz’s (2001) charter theory is that of choice. Friedman’s notions of free market economics as a method for school reform were founded upon a concept in microeconomics known as rational choice theory (Kalmar, 2014). According to Kalmar, (2014) rational choice theory is the lynchpin under which the philosophy of free market economics operates in the educational realm. This theory suggests that the consumer will, with a degree of predictability, regularly select for themselves amongst their options that which maximizes their own personal utility. The final characterization Markowitz (2001) offers for charter theory is that of productivity. The field of economics places a high regard on market elements like inputs and outputs and places value on those elements through economic terms like productivity. This emphasis on efficiency and outputs is a hallmark of market-based reform theories. Research Design The primary tool used for collection of research data in the current study was semi-structured interview questions used to gather qualitative data that could be analyzed for themes and patterns. The current study employed maximum variation sampling with a population that included superintendents from eight of the nine Texas Education Agency (TEA) categories of school districts in the state of Texas. The charter school category was intentionally removed as the defining attributes of the charter school model did not align with the Markowitz democracy framework (Markowitz, 2001). The researcher explored the Paul Cook, Ed.D.