Publicwashing in Education: Definition, Motives, and Manifestations

This essay coins and conceptualizes the term “publicwashing.” In educational systems and organizations, publicwashing is a symbolic communication that emphasizes organizational publicness for the purpose of a superficial repair of reputation. The essay defines publicwashing and describes its motives and manifestations. Additionally, it illustrates publicwashing by discussing the concept in the context of the U.S. charter school reform. Adopting the lens of symbolic communication in the charter school case illustrates how the discrepancy between the “public” label and private characteristics of charter schools is managed through public relations. Future studies of publicwashing in education can further apply the symbolic communication approach to various cases, contexts, and deceptive strategies.

“We Are the Forgotten of the Forgottens”: The Effects of Charter School Reform on Public School Teachers

In this article, Erika Kitzmiller analyzes the reactions of teachers to district officials’ decision to close their traditionally managed public school and reopen it as a privately managed charter school. While many scholars have examined the impact of this reform on communities, families, and youth, little attention has been paid to the effects of charter school reform on the public school teachers who worked in these schools. Here Kitzmiller considers one of the key but largely overlooked stakeholders in charter school reform: public school teachers.