Indebting Children
Context, Consequences, and Contestation of K-12 Educational Debt
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4436808 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Frances Negrón‐muntaner, Frances Negrón-Muntaner, Jason Wozniak, Jason Thomas Wozniak |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 124 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 606-623 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | South Atlantic Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0038-2876 • E-ISSN: 1527-8026 |
| Publisher | Duke University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1215/00382876-11850317 |
| OpenAlex | W4412483363 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 1 |
This article argues that the neoliberal era (1970-present) has intensified the phenomenon of indebtedness, including that of children. Inside schools where a majority of the students are predominantly BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color), and have limited access to resources, teachers who themselves are buried in student debt teach students who are being acculturated into indebted life, an existence shaped by and designed to service debt. We investigate the context, consequences, and contestation practices of debt financing in K-12 schools and introduce the Instructional Harm Index (IHI) to measure and visualize how debt undermines educational experiences and harms children. The IHI also reveals that debt affects children differently; for some children, it leads to educational extraction and inadequate conditions; for others, it results in educational extravagance and increased social capital
Archaeology · Context (archaeology) · Debt · Economics · Macroeconomics · Political science · Sociology · History · Psychology · School Choice and Performance
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |