This article focuses on understanding how the politics of survival shaped the terrain of profit from educational technologies (edtech) during COVID-19. Drawing on the cases of Chicago Public Schools in Chicago, Illinois and Orange County Public Schools in Orlando, Florida, we argue that almost all aspects of schooling were corporatized during COVID-19 due to the perceived necessity of virtual solutions to address the crisis. This occurred as school districts directed the unprecedented infusion of federal funding into Big Tech and edtech companies with limited overt, organized resistance by teachers’ unions, families, and community organizations. These groups were understandably more preoccupied with the uncertainties of the moment; student, family, and staff safety; and fears of learning loss. Yet, this context resulted in the phenomenon we call the edtech exception: technology companies exploit crisis, establishing themselves as essential, thus maneuvering under the radar of public accountability and broader resistance to educational privatization.
Moeller et al. (Fri,) studied this question.