The Non-Profit Industrial Complex's Role in Imposing Neoliberalism on Public Education

Abstract

Essay explores the Non-Profit Industrial Complex’s (NPIC) substantive role in imposing neoliberalism on public education. Using the experiences in Los Angeles specifically, it looks at the connections between foundations and 501(c)3s that share and advance an agenda of deregulation, austerity, and privatization. Additionally, the essay examines to how privately managed charter schools aren't just part of the NPIC, but are the primary weapon in the push for privatization. Lastly, the paper looks at the pushback from communities, and some alternatives to the NPIC with movements like the demands for ethnic studies, that are genuinely grassroots, in contradistinction to the NPIC.

Keywords: Non Profit, Charter Schools, NPIC, neoliberalism