reseņas educativas (Spanish)
resenhas educativas (Portuguese)
This review has been accessed times since September 6, 2006
Epstein, Kitty Kelly . (2006). A Different View of Urban Schools: Civil Rights, Critical Race Theory, and Unexplored Realities. New York: Peter Lang.
Pp. x + 144
$ 29.95 ISBN 0-8204-7879-2Reviewed by Jamel K. Donnor
Washington University in St. LouisSeptember 6, 2006
How does a community solve its problems? This is a topic Kitty Kelly Epstein’s A Different View of Urban Schools: Civil Rights, Critical Race Theory, and Unexplored Realities examines in its analysis of Oakland, California’s multi-racial and multiethnic communities’ attempt to provide the city’s students of color equitable access to a quality education.
The book begins with an exposition of the author’s varying experiences that serve as the impetus for the mixed-method qualitative study (i.e., interviews, policy analysis, and historiography). In addition to being an “active parent” and former teacher in the Oakland public school system the author participated in local civic matters including teacher union and school board meetings, and other “community gatherings” (p. 2). It is because of this assortment of experiences that Epstein (2006) sets out to dispel the popular (mis)perception that urban schools after the 1960s became, “chaotic, violent, corrupt, and dysfunctional” (p. 2). The author posits that this widely held misconception is problematic because it ignores the “politics” and/or the political economy of urban schools by “focusing [solely] on the classroom” (p. 2). Moreover, deficit conceptions of schools with a majority non-white student population are frequently undergirded by race. In short, the text brings to the reader’s attention the significance of the racial, sociopolitical, and civic ecology urban schools operate within.
In situating her rethinking of urban schools theoretically, the author draws from three distinct yet complementary frameworks: (1) critical race theory (CRT), (2) Marxism, and (3) Paulo Freire’s (1970) notion that schools are a “site of struggle” (p. 5).
An analytical tool of legal studies, critical race theory uses history to examine and articulate the current ways people of color disproportionately experience structural social inequity. For the author, CRT assists in attending to the proverbial question, “why is there an ‘achievement gap’ between Black and white students” in Oakland (p .6)? Similarly, she utilizes Marxism’s reliance on historical context and dialectical thinking to highlight the contradictions and limitations of educational reform policies. For instance, according to Kelly, former Oakland mayor Jerry Brown’s call for removing local school board control proves to be inauspicious considering that it coincides with the increase in African American control of the board. Furthermore, proposals to remove local control were “never made during the eighty years when the district was led entirely by white school boards and superintendents” (p. 14). Lastly, Freire’s (1970) notion that schools are a contested site is used to illustrate parent, teacher, and community leader’s “hope” in their struggle to create “good public schools” (Freire, 1994).
Kitty Kelly Epstein The author illustrates (albeit briefly) that successful systemic school reform depends on local support. More specifically, sustainable change requires a cross-section of stakeholders including local and state government officials, citizens, and non-profit organizations. During the 1960s, for instance, a (broad) coalition of Oakland stakeholders, including the Black Caucus, the League of Women Voters, the Filipino Coalition, and the Jewish Community Relations Council were engaged in a Civil Rights Movement to abolish school segregation. In addition to increasing the racial diversity of the teaching corps, members from the aforementioned organizations employed non-traditional strategies such as sit-ins, picketing, and other forms of protest to increase community awareness and involvement in policy planning. For example, while it is commonplace for urban school districts to be led by an African American in the current social context, Epstein points out that prior to 1969 this was not the case in Oakland (p. 30). In fact, with a student population over 50 percent African American, Oakland’s black community “had had no voice in choosing the superintendent for one hundred years” (Epstein, 2006, p. 31). Hence, the Oakland school board’s decision to select Dr. Marcus Foster as superintendent during this period represents more than symbolic value when one considers the community’s actions and commitment to create change.
Further, and contrary to popular belief, state-led reform efforts such as school takeovers require community support. During the State of California’s first attempt to takeover the Oakland schools in 1988, it was defeated by a partnership that included parents, teachers, and school board members. In addition to engaging in conventional individual democratic instruments such as attending school board meetings, various members in the Oakland community sought to resolve this “community issue” through the “Ad Hoc Committee of Teachers and Parents” (p. 45). Along with the “No trustee” and “Use the state’s 2.5 billion budget surplus to finance school” rallies respectively, this committee of Oakland citizens held meetings and conducted press interviews offering a reformulation of (then current) school finance methods to “balance” the district’s budget (p. 45).
For individuals familiar with CRT, A Different View of Urban Schools offers a glimpse at the theory’s broader goal of working towards ending oppression, and the “triumph in challenge” in action (Matsuda et al, 1993; Bell, 1995). This was best illustrated by the work of Sylvester Hodge, the former chairperson of the Oakland school district’s Budget and Finance Committee. Among his many accomplishments in this capacity, was achieving Standard & Poor’s “highest bond rating” and accumulating a “substantial” financial reserve for the district (p. 47). In chronicling Oakland’s multiracial and multiethnic communities’ response to state (and federal) led education reform, one is better able to understand the conditions necessary to act in a “concerted” manner to create sustainable change (Stone, 2005). Moreover, the author’s use of CRT as a “problem-centered” or issue-defining mechanism, rather than as a qualitative approach illustrates that urban education reform, as a civic matter, “requires not only that it be seen as a source of difficulties,” but that solutions are “something amenable” through “political action” (Dixson & Rousseau, 2005, p. 22; Stone et al, 2001, p. 26).
For a newcomer to critical race theory in education, however, this text does not provide the necessary attention nor exercise due diligence in articulating the theory’s germination. Consider that the author begins her description of CRT with Ladson-Billings and Tate’s (1995) article Toward a Critical Race Theory of Education. While Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995) are credited with introducing the education field to CRT, I argue that all articulations of this framework must begin with the contributions of legal scholar Derrick Bell (Dixson & Rousseau, 2005; Donnor, 2005). Moreover, Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995) caution scholars in education to make certain that they attend to the legal literature as it pertains to CRT.
Derrick Bell’s intellectual and social significance to critical race theory stems from establishing a “scholarly agenda that placed race at the center of intellectual inquiry” in constitutional theory (Crenshaw, 2002, Derrick Bell: From “Race, Racism, and American Law” to the “Alternative Course,” ¶ 3). Using a social constructionist perspective of race, Derrick Bell introduced a new line of critical thought to explain the continuance of racism and social injustice within the law and legal doctrine (Donnor, forthcoming). Through his “permanence of racism” and “interest-convergence” theses respectively, Bell explained how society’s dominant class maintain its position through an elaborate process of marginalization using the law, public policy, and society’s governing institutions to: (1) produce, manage, and distribute social resources, and (2) exclude (and oppress) historically and contemporary marginalized groups. Further, Bell’s critical race scholarship used unconventional non-analytic methods such as narrative, storytelling, and racial allegory to articulate how judicial and Civil Rights strategies designed to promote equality simultaneously worked to preserve America’s social hierarchy.
A corollary and additional shortcoming of the text, is the absence of the legal literature and legal analysis. In this instance, omission of the interplay among the law, public policy and education in light of the geo-political landscape of Oakland is disconcerting. For instance, with the passage of the Standing Orders of the Regents of the University of California-SP-1 and SP-2 (1995), and Proposition 209 (1996) now more than a decade old, questions such as: how have communities with a rich tradition of “civic capacity” such as Oakland, responded to these issues are worthy of in-depth inquiry (Stone, 2005). More specifically, what are the human capital development strategies in progress at the P-12 level in this community, now that race is “no longer a factor” in admissions to public institutions of higher education in the state of California? From a CRT perspective, in what ways has race been re-coded or re-activated to serve as a barrier to opportunity and access to public institutions that purport to embrace a color-blind admissions policy? Moreover, in light of the “majority-minority” demography of the Bay Area and Southern California, to what extent do California’s public institutions reflect its population? Or, have these institutions experienced a “white washing” that in essence reflects a retrenchment rather than an opportunity for real advancement in racial equality? Indeed, for a metropolitan region such as Oakland with a unique history regarding demographic patterns, race relations, and economic development, learning how groups come together to embrace a particular course of action is important. As A Different View of Urban Schools: Civil Rights, Critical Race Theory, and Unexplored Realities illustrates the essence of a community is struggle. Furthermore, a community’s capacity to act is not coincidental, rather it is an intentional process that is influenced, shaped, reinforced and undermined by the historical, political, and social landscape (Stone, 1998).
The next step, according to some critical race scholars in education, is working toward social change (DeCuir & Dixson, 2004; Dixson & Rousseau, 2005). An activist approach, I suggest, is a thorough and on-going analysis on the interrelationship among neighborhoods, schools, and economic development policies. As urban and metropolitan regions across the US engage in efforts to reshape their infrastructure to accommodate or sustain their capacity in the emerging biotechnology economy, area schools will increasingly be expected to provide the necessary human resources to contribute to the region’s vitality. A starting point for education scholars using CRT is to explore the convergence and divergence of interests between local economic development and education reform policies, such as standardized testing, in communities that have historically (and currently) under-served its constituents. Such an approach has the potential for developing strategies that ensure equitable learning opportunities exist for all students.
Note
I would like to thank Garrett Albert Duncan and Adrienne Dixson for their thoughtful comments and suggestions for this review. I would also like to thank Dr. Carol Camp Yeakey for recommending I take on this project.
References
Bell, D. (1995). The triumph in challenge. Maryland Law Review, 54, 1691-1699.
Crenshaw, K. W. (2002). Critical race studies: The first decade: Critical reflections, or "a foot in the closing door". UCLA Law Review, 49(1343). 1-20. Retrieved September 27, 2002, from LexisNexis database.
DeCuir, J. T., & Dixson, A. D. (2004). “So when it comes out, they aren’t that surprised that it is there”: Using critical race theory as a tool of analysis of race and racism in education. Educational Researcher, 33(5), 26-31.
Dixson, A. D., & Rousseau, C. K. (2005). And we are still not saved: critical race theory in education ten years later. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8(1): 7-27.
Donnor, J. K. (2005). Towards an interest-convergence in the education of African American football student-athletes in major college sports. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8(1): 45-67
Donnor, J. K. (forthcoming). Derrick Bell. In G. Anderson (Ed.), Encyclopedia of activisim and social justice. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder.
Freire, P. (1994). Pedagogy of hope. New York: Continuum.
Ladson-Billings, G., & Tate IV, W. F. (1995). "Toward a critical race theory of education." Teachers College Record, 97(1): 47-68.
Matsuda, M., Lawrence III, C. R., Delgado, R., & Crenshaw, K. W. (1993). Introduction. In M. Matsuda, Lawrence III, C. R., Delgado, R., & Crenshaw, K. W. (Ed.), Words that wound: Critical race theory, assaultive speech, and the first amendment. (pp. 1-17). Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Stone, C. N. (1998). Linking civic capacity and human capital formation. In M. J. Gittell (Ed.), Strategies for school equity: Creating productive schools in a just society (pp.163-176). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Stone, C. N. (2005). Civic capacity: What, why, and from whence. In S. Fuhrman, & M. Lazerson (Eds.), The institutions of American democracy: The public schools (pp. 209-234). Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
Stone, C. N. (2001). If civic culture is the answer, what is the question? Economic Development Quarterly, 15(4), 313-316.
Stone, C. N., Henig, J. R., Jones, B. D., & Pierannunzi, C. (2001). Building civic capacity: The politics of reforming urban schools. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas.
About the Reviewer
Jamel K. Donnor is a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Education at Washington University in St. Louis. His research interests include Technology and Education Policy, African Americans and Education; and Education, Race, and Legal Analysis.
Copyright is retained by the first or sole author, who grants right of first publication to the Education Review.
Editors: Gene V Glass, Kate Corby, Gustavo Fischman
~ ER home | Reseņas Educativas | Resenhas Educativas ~
~ overview | reviews | editors | submit | guidelines | announcements | search ~
