February 5, 2025
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The Cost of Disruption: How Culture Wars Cost Taxpayers

7:00 PM THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6

Join us for a timely conversation with scholars Dr. Rebecca Jacobsen and Dr. Rachel White. We will review the research of Dr. White, co-author of a new study, “The Cost of Conflict,” and Dr. Jacobsen, co-author of the forthcoming “The Politics of Disruption.” Their work details how much the politics of disruption are costing public schools and how the disruption is negatively impacting school boards and eroding community trust.

The consequences of our school/education wars are real and finding ways to resolve conflicts and work together to protect and strengthen our public schools are still worthy goals if we want to provide all children a high-quality, free and inclusive public education.

There will be time allotted for questions and answers. To prepare for the discussion, read the report,

Dr. Rebecca Jacobsen is a professor of education politics and policy in the College of Education at Michigan State University. Prior to graduate school, Rebecca taught elementary and middle school in the New York City public schools.  Jacobsen’s work focuses on ways to strengthen public commitment to public education. She has written extensively about accountability policies, local school politics, and school board elections. Her book, Outside Money in Local School Board Elections: The Nationalization of Local Education Politics, (co-authored with Jeff Henig and Sarah Reckhow) won the Denis Judd Best Book Award for 2020.

Dr. Rachel White is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership & Policy at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the founder and principal investigator of The Superintendent Lab--a central hub for research and data on the superintendency and home to the National Longitudinal Superintendent Database. Dr. White is also a Faculty in Residence with AASA, The School Superintendents Association. Dr. White's research centers around 1) issues of power, voice, diversity, and inclusion in education policy making and implementation processes, and 2) examining structures and policies that contribute to or counteract equitable K-12 education systems.
 

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Public Schools First NC is a statewide nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused solely

on pre-K to 12 public education issues. We collaborate with parents, teachers, business and civic leaders, and communities across North Carolina to advocate for one unified system of public education that prepares each child for productive citizenship.

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