Jamaal Bowman, the contentious New York congressman, often cites his background as a former school principal and his Ed.D. in education to bolster his policy positions. However, a new analysis by school choice leader Christopher Rufo reveals that his 2019 dissertation, “Community Schools: The Perceptions and Practices that Foster Broad-Based Collaboration amongst leaders with the Community School Ecosystem,” is fraught with basic errors, illogical conclusions, and several instances of plagiarism. (Bowman did not respond to requests for comment.)
Bowman has frequently praised his dissertation on social media, viewing it as a cornerstone of his political philosophy. When recently asked about his political views, Bowman stated, “I identify as an educator, and as a Black man in America. But my policies align with those of a socialist, so I guess that makes me a socialist.”
Completed at Manhattanville College, Bowman’s dissertation argues that “Black, Latinx, and poor White children have been historically oppressed throughout American history,” advocating for “community schools” based on the ideas of Brazilian Marxist educator Paulo Freire. These schools would provide comprehensive government services for all community members, including adults.
Bowman’s research is primarily “qualitative,” involving interviews with 13 school administrators, activists, and parents, who were categorized into demographic boxes and labeled as either oppressors or the oppressed. For example, Bowman described “Ms. Melendez, a parent leader at Manny Ramirez High School, was born in the Dominican Republican [sic]” as a genuine community member, while “Ms. Warren, who identified racially as White, discussed being very aware of being ‘a visitor in someone else [sic] community all the time.’”
His community schools model posits that the government, rather than parents, should be responsible for children’s success. He quotes a school official saying, “Families don’t have any deficits. If a mother is collecting welfare, so what?”
Bowman’s dissertation makes substantial leaps of logic, with limited quantitative research that contradicts his primary arguments. For instance, his analysis of community schools in New York City—referred to with a pseudonym—revealed that non-community schools outperformed community schools in fostering strong family-community ties. Despite this, Bowman dismissed the contradiction, attributing it to the cultural diversity of the schools and calling for more professional learning opportunities to improve these ties within the community school framework.
Moreover, Bowman’s dissertation appears to include multiple instances of plagiarism. In one section, he explains critical race theory by copying from another author’s summary of the 2001 book, Critical Race Theory: An Introduction, without proper attribution. He replaces “Latino/Latina” with “Latinx/Latina” to follow current academic trends, although he seems to have misunderstood the purpose of the “x” ending. Additionally, he introduces a typo, changing “the intersection between race/ethnicity and caring” to “the intersection between race/ethnicity caring.”
This scrutiny of Bowman’s academic work raises serious questions about the integrity and credibility of the foundation upon which he bases his policy positions.
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