Diversity for Whom? Gentrification, Demographic Change, and the Politics of School Integration

Abstract

Gentrification and the displacement of low-income residents of color from neighborhoods where they have long resided has accelerated over the last 20 years. In some cities, this process has begun to impact school demographics. Although research shows that school districts experiencing gentrification are responding in ways that fuel segregation and inequality, in some contexts gentrification is viewed by administrators as an opportunity to seek racial and economic integration. In our exploratory comparative case study, we examined districts in gentrifying cities pursuing integration in the face of rapid gentrification. Our critical policy analysis illustrates how district leaders’ diversity efforts can be overshadowed by their desire to appease and attract gentrifying families. Although districts are maintaining or increasing diversity in gentrifying contexts, our study raises broader equity questions that call for further inquiry of within-district equity and the displacement of students.

Does Neighborhood Gentrification Create School Desegregation?

“…This study extends existing research on the impact of gentrification on local schools by focusing on a city considered one of the nation's most rapidly gentrifying (Maciag, 2015) and by examining the extent to which neighborhood-level demographic changes correspond to school-level changes. Our findings are aligned with recent research on gentrification and schools, indicating that at least on a small, localized scale, largely White, middle-to upper-class families are beginning to engage with urban school districts (Diem, Holme, Edwards, Haynes, & Epstein, 2018;Kimelberg & Billingham, 2013;Mordechay & Ayscue, 2019;Stillman, 2012). It should be noted, however, that both charters and TPSs across the district still remain intensely segregated despite the creation of pockets of near-desegregation in some schools.…”

Modes of Belonging: Debating School Demographics in Gentrifying New York

“…As they talked about integration, segregation, and gentrification, stakeholders’ comments reflected varying and often conflicted narratives about whether, why, and how student demographics matter (Abu El-Haj, 2006; Dumas, 2009; Pollock, 2005). These racialized narratives influence public perceptions of diversifying schools, perceptions that have profound implications for how district administrators develop and implement policies related to school choice and student assignment, how parents join and participate in diversifying school communities, and how school leaders negotiate families’ competing priorities (Cucchiara, 2013; Diem, Holme, Edwards, Haynes, & Epstein, 2018; Posey-Maddox, 2014; Quarles & Butler, 2018; Siegel-Hawley et al, 2016; Syeed, 2019; Turner, 2015).…”

“…Modes of Belonging district administrators develop and implement policies related to school choice and student assignment, how parents join and participate in diversifying school communities, and how school leaders negotiate families' competing priorities (Cucchiara, 2013;Diem, Holme, Edwards, Haynes, & Epstein, 2018;Posey-Maddox, 2014;Quarles & Butler, 2018;Siegel-Hawley et al, 2016;Syeed, 2019;Turner, 2015). Much of the research to date on school gentrification examines the role that ''advantaged families in disadvantaged contexts'' play in influencing school policies and practices (Posey-Maddox, Kimelberg, & Cucchiara, 2014, p. 447).…”

Unequal Opportunity: School and Neighborhood Segregation in the USA

“…This pattern is not true everywhere-recent evidence from New York indicates that schools serving gentrifying neighborhoods saw large influxes in white students as the residential population become more white (Mordechay and Ayscue 2019). However, gentrification is unlikely to lead to diverse schools without explicit diversity efforts (Diem et al 2019).…”