A Double Edge Sword: Tensions of Integration Amidst a Diversifying Public School

Abstract

Municipal governments have long looked to gentrification in hopes of addressing social problems, including poverty concentration, crime, and more recently, school segregation. Yet, little is known about the educational implications of neighborhood gentrification. This article examines the process of “school gentrification” exploring school leadership challenges navigating school integration in a diverse-by-design charter elementary school experiencing gentrification. We find acute tensions of transitioning from school desegregation to integration within the context of unequal circumstances. In particular leadership’s challenge of creating spaces with repeated contact across race and class, and leadership’s response to lobbying efforts from parents that frequently undermined the school’s equity aims.