School Choice and the Politics of Parenthood: Exploring Parent Mobilization As a Catalyst for the Common Good

“Doing what it takes to keep the school open”: The philanthropic networks of progressive charter schools

“…Relatedly, as discussed above, schools serving wealthy families and located in affluent communities have disproportionate access to private funding sources. Hence, policies should interrupt this dynamic by supporting recent demands among students, parents, teachers, and other stakeholders in New York City for meaningful school integration policies (New York Appleseed, 2013, 2014Roda, 2018). As Empire and Liberty in particular demonstrate, white and middle-class families and staff were key to connecting the schools with networks of affluent donors.…”

“…However, recent shifts in the political and ideological terrain suggest that there is emerging support for a progressive education policy agenda that would broaden public investment in schools serving minoritized communities and expand equitable educational opportunities and access for poor students and students of color. For instance, in New York City, the context of this study, there has been growing public and political attention on the role of market-based school choice, including charter schools, in perpetuating racial segregation (Mader, Hemphill, & Abbas, 2018;New York Appleseed, 2013, 2014Roda, 2018). In turn, some local school choice initiatives have been restructured to prioritize racial and socioeconomic integration and equitable resource distribution (Shapiro, 2018).…”

School choice's idealized premises and unfulfilled promises: How school markets simulate options, encourage decoupling and deception, and deepen disadvantages

“…Moreover, they have urged a greater understanding of the impact of “diversity and inclusion, class size, culturally responsive teaching, and counseling services” (Measure This, ). Equity‐focused parent organizations encourage attendance at neighborhood schools (Roda, ), whereas national campaigns like the #WeChoose coalition urge community‐driven school improvement over the “illusion of school choice” (Ansari, Hutchinson, Gonzalves, & Wolfe, ). In NYC, student organization IntegrateNYC has recommended adding equity measures to the public school system's algorithm for determining high‐school placements (Cassano, ), whereas Teens Take Charge launched their #EducationUnscreened campaign with an ongoing, at the time of publication, weekly strike calling on high schools to eliminate discriminatory admissions screens, including academic ones (Elsen‐Rooney, ; Teens Take Charge, ).…”

The Perceptions of Private and Suburban Public Schools among Middle Class Urban Parents: Evidence from Albany, New York<br /> &nbsp;

“…Some are also drawn to the diversity in urban public schools, settings that reflect the "real world" (Cucchiara, 2013b). Additional parents are open to "trying out" the public schools in their urban neighborhoods (Stillman, 2012), whereas others have left-leaning political values and support urban public education as a social justice concern (Cucchiara, 2013b;Cucchiara & Horvat, 2014;Posey, 2012;Reay et al, 2011;Roda, 2018;Stillman, 2012). Other parents are turned off by the perceived, obsessive parenting styles they contend are more prevalent in wealthier, suburban schools (Cucchiara, 2013b;Stillman, 2012).…”

“…Recent scholarship, however, has suggested that "choice" in K-12 education is a matter of degree and rests on the social, cultural, and financial capital of families and groups (Kimelberg, 2014;Posey, 2012;Posey-Maddox, 2016;Posey-Maddox, Kimelberg, & Cucchiara, 2016;Sattin-Bajaj & Roda, 2018). Because of these factors education and school choice are also deeply institutional and political (Roda, 2018). This paper explores a relatively unique set of parents and examines their school choices.…”