Visions of Equity? Education Reform in the Gentrifying City: The Case of Berkeley's Vision 2020 Initiative

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session 17
  In Roundtable Session: Higher Education Policy: Influences on Students and Faculty

Abstract

Recent urban development policies have fed widespread gentrification and displacement of low-income communities of color. Urban school reforms have often been at the cutting edge of these urban transformations. What is the relationship between the adoption of mayor-led educational equity initiatives and the gentrification and dislocation of communities of color? In this study we draw on the insights of Urban Regime Theory (Shipps, 2008), Cultural Political Economy (Dumas, 2011; Dumas & Anyon, 2006), and the Educationalization of Social Problems (Kantor & Lowe, 2013; Labaree, 2008) to analyze the creation and development of Berkeley’s Vision 2020 Initiative within the political and economic milieu of one of America’s most liberal and gentrified cities.

Authors

• Danfeng Soto-Vigil Koon, University of San Francisco

• Mahasan Violet Chaney, University of California - Berkeley