Accountability Battle: A Critical Analysis of a Charter Renewal Decision

This qualitative paper by Taylor Enoch-Stevens, Eupha Jeanne Daramola, Huriya Jabbar, and Julie Marsh examines the non-renewal process for one K-8 charter school to understand the roles of race and power in these decisions. Through counternarrative methodology, interviews, and observations, the authors find that the school board used narratives around efficiency, economy, and effectiveness to silence the voices of the black community, both inside and outside the school. The school board focused on the lower quantitative outcomes of the school and its economic interests while limiting the power and legitimacy of the community’s perspectives. The authors suggest charter renewal decisions should be based on factors that do not replicate the structural racial inequality in broader society by including more community voices and promoting democratic participation.