Book Review of When Middle-Class Parents Choose Urban Schools: Class, Race, and the Challenge of Equity in Public Education

Abstract

Book Review of When Middle-Class Parents Choose Urban Schools: Class, Race, and the Challenge of Equity in Public EducationIn the midst of reports that American schools are becoming more segregated by race and socioeconomic group, there is a smaller converse trend. An increasing number of middle-class parents are choosing to send their children to diverse public schools, particularly in urban areas. These parents often become active volunteer leaders of the school.Linn Posey-Maddox describes such a situation in When Middle-Class Parents Choose Urban Schools (2014). Her book, based on her doctoral dissertation, focuses on her extensive research at one elementary school in an urban district in Northern California. Parents from a predominantly White middle-class area within the school's enrollment zone consciously chose to send their children to this Title I school, which had a predominantly African American population, instead of private schools or other public schools permitted under the district's open choice policy. Posey-Maddox notes that the small school, which she calls Morningside Elementary, was respected for its strong leadership and low teacher turnover, as well as its success with students enrolled at the time. Yet White middle-class parents for years had simply driven by the school and determined it wasn't for them.The newcomer parents, seeking the experience of a diverse public school, became avid supporters of the school, volunteering many hours and bringing in extraordinary resources which included funding teaching positions and a mental health coordinator. Posey-Maddox focuses her research on the impact of this parental involvement on the school in the short- and long-term.The greatest strength of Posey-Maddox's book is its detailed effort to carefully examine the impact on a school of changing patterns of race and class, not just among students and faculty, but among parents. Many view the role of parent volunteers within a school as a minor element in the education of children. Posey-Maddox illustrates how it can be a major factor in the very heart of a school, not only today but in years to come.Posey-Maddox spent extensive time in the school as an observer, including volunteering in the fifth grade for several months. She conducted numerous interviews and two targeted surveys to gather further data. She analyzed school demographic data over several years, not just in broad strokes, but broken down by grade level and neighborhood.After in-depth research and analysis, Posey-Maddox tells a cautionary tale. Middle- and upper-middle-class parents did indeed add volunteer hours and resources to the school. However, according to Posey-Maddox, they changed the very fabric of the school over a span of some five years:Middle-class parents helped to garner or sustain many academic and extracurricular programs and resources at Morningside, and many of these resources benefited the collective student body. Yet these parents' fundraising, volunteerism, and outreach to families of similar race and class background also contributed to the marginalization and exclusion of low-income, working-class families. The increased professionalism of the Morningside Parent-Teacher Organization helped to garner more funds for the school; however, the creation of positions requiring specialized skills and the expansion of fundraising efforts changed the norms and structures of the organization in ways that privileged middle-class forms of parent engagement. (p. 4)In the end, the very quality that many of the returning parents sought- a diverse school population-was threatened. With a school district policy of open school choice that gave preference to those living within the enrollment boundaries, other middle-class parents began purchasing homes near the school to guarantee their spot in this " urban jewel." Not only did it change the socioeconomic balance of students from within the school boundaries, it left fewer spots for students from low-income or working-class families to optin from other parts of the city. …