Putting Everything on the Table: Complexity,Context, and Community Engagement with Public Education

Interchange - For the first time since 1968, local education authorities in Washington, D.C. embarked on a contentious process of engaging communities as part of a comprehensive revision of the...     

There Goes the PTA: Building Parent Identity,Relationships, and Power in Gentrifying Schools

In cities across the country, school communities must contend with new challenges introduced by gentrification and the arrival of middle class and white families. This collaborative research study looks at schools where parent organizers are attempting to intervene in processes of gentrification that may further marginalize lower-income families of color. Based on interviews with diverse parents at three gentrifying schools, the study applies existing organizing models to urban schools undergoing racial, class, and linguistic transformations. The findings indicate that parents and organizers can develop an inclusive and equitable school community by rooting their shared identity in school/neighborhood history, emphasizing relationship building, and ensuring that parent leadership structures and practices remain responsive to lower-income families. Implications and limitations of the model also are discussed.