Gentrifying in and Investing out of San Francisco's Public Schools

• In Event: Critical Theory, Contested Educational Spaces

Abstract

Studies closely examining the relationship between the neoliberal project of gentrification and school choice tend to examine how white and/or advantaged parents choose schools through qualitative research. Few studies have quantitatively examined the (dis)investment in public schools as it relates to gentrification and displacement. This paper analyzes eight different stages of gentrification in San Francisco in order to understand if gentrification and displacement have resulted in a shift in public or private school enrollment and found that public school enrollment decreased as gentrification advanced. This paper calls for a critical analysis around gentrification and urges policymakers to consider how gentrification redesigns space for some and pushes out others, all the while reproducing racial and socio-economic stratification in our public schools.

Author

• Talia S Leibovitz, University of California - Berkeley