"We Felt They Took the Heart Out of the Community": Community-Based Resistance to Urban High School Closure

• In Event: 26.018 - Equity-Focused Family Engagement Strategies and Community–School Partnerships

Abstract

After decades of educational and social inequality, many urban school districts face fiscal deficits, low-test scores, and declining student enrollments that have resulted in massive school closures. However, some urban communities are organizing against school closures to reopen public, neighborhood high schools as community schools. The purpose of this study is to examine how leaders across a community in the urban Midwest took action to reopen a high school that was closed by its district. Using case study methodology and social capital theory to guide the analysis, this study draws on 32-interviews and document data. Findings suggest that these leaders, negotiated a community-university social contract, took strategic and socially connected actions, and formed a community-driven education task force.

Author

• Terrance Green, The University of Texas - Austin