ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I take a socially critical approach to urban education policy. My analysis focuses on Chicago, a paradigmatic case of neo-liberal urban restructuring and neo-liberal education policy in the US. In the summer of 2004, two signifi cant events occurred in Chicago. On June 24, the city’s mayor, Richard J. Daley, announced the Renaissance 2010 school plan to close 60-70 public schools and open 100 new schools, two-thirds to be run by private organizations or companies and staffed by non-union teachers and school employees. The plan was proposed by the Commercial Club of Chicago, a venerable organization of the most powerful corporate and banking CEOs and civic elites. On July 16, the mayor presided over the opening of Millennium Park, a 24.5 acre, half-billion dollar public-private venture, a ‘world class’ park, sculpture garden, and performance space on Chicago’s lakeshore. The park is the crowning jewel in a reconstructed downtown of corporate towers, tourism, and leisure. These two, seemingly unrelated events exemplify the intersection of education policy, economic restructuring of the city, and the cultural politics of race. Both events were important milestones in a neo-liberal urban agenda developed and driven by the most powerful corporate and fi nancial interests in the city in collaboration with the mayor and key city offi cials.
