Rebuilding Solidarity Through Advocacy Leadership: Principals Building Coalitions to Fight Exclusion and Displacement in Gentrifying Communities

Commanding Through Change: A Conceptual Model for School Leadership Amid Gentrification

“…Where there is school choice, school leaders can adopt marketing strategies and reserve seats to protect these families from school-level displacement (Roda, 2020). School leaders can also adopt specific policies within their schools to promote equity, such as forming partnerships with families from racially minoritized backgrounds and ensuring that these families have an equal voice in their schools (Cordova-Cobo, 2019; McGhee & Haynes, 2022). School leaders can also implement policies within their schools to create racially and economically inclusive classrooms (Mordechay, 2021).…”

“…There is evidence, however, that some leaders actively resist elevating affluent families above other members of their school communities and engage in what McGhee and Haynes (2022) call "strategic protection" to prevent or minimize longtime resident parents' exclusion (p. 8). For some school leaders, cultivating inclusivity begins when marketing schools to families (Roda, 2020).…”

“…Horsford et al (2018) argue that principals with open leadership styles may be more willing to share power with families, while principals with closed leadership styles may be less accessible and defensive when facing demographic changes. Emerging literature reveals opportunities for collaboration with parents, especially those from marginalized backgrounds, to cultivate inclusive climates (McGhee & Haynes, 2022; Syeed, 2018). Tensions may arise between school leaders and parent gentrifiers, who may expect more open forms of leadership.…”

“They Don't Feel Like This Is Their Place Anymore:” School Leaders’ Understanding of the Impacts of Gentrification on Schools

“…As a result, a growing body of scholarship has analyzed the relationship between neighborhood schools and gentrification (e.g., Candipan, 2020;Cucchiara, 2013;Freidus, 2020aFreidus, , 2020bGreen et al, 2022aGreen et al, , 2022bMcGhee & Haynes, 2022;Pearman, 2019;Posey-Maddox et al, 2014). This scholarship illustrates that neighborhood gentrification has mixed academic effects on students (Keels et al, 2013;Pearman, 2019), impacts the enrollment of neighborhood public schools (Pearman & Swain, 2017), impacts student demographics shifts in various ways through the implementation of language programs (Heiman, 2021;Heiman & Murakami, 2019;Valdez et al, 2016), and impacts how parent and family organizers can intervene on gentrification (Syeed, 2018).…”

“…Third, school leaders are important liaisons that help mediate power dynamics and foster partnerships between school and community actors (Green, 2017a;Ishimaru, 2019;Khalifa, 2020). Yet, principals are understudied within the schools and gentrification literature (McGhee and Anderson, 2019; for exceptions, see Freidus, 2020a;Heiman and Murakami, 2019;McGhee & Haynes, 2022;Roda, 2020).…”