School integration can be a powerful force for improving schools for all kids, but what is it like to be in a school community when newly arriving parents set out “save” your school? When the “nice White parents” arrive to remake the school in their image of what a “good” school should be? When the “haves” try to take over from the “have nots”?

We’re joined by Cathryn, a low-income parent from Los Angeles, who witnessed the arrival of well meaning and well resourced parents into the school where her 3 kids attended. She shares the harm caused, as well as how folks with privilege can show up as allies in those situations.

Longtime listeners may recall a similar conversation from Season 1, Vicky and the Saviors. In a sequel of sorts, Cathryn shares a similar story from a different perspective.

LINKS:

• S1E7 – Vicky and the Saviors
• Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems . . .

ACTION STEPS:

• Examine your social networks, and invest in relationships with perspectives that are missing.
• Talk to the young people in your life about class – and know that you aren’t going to be perfect in the first conversation, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth starting.
• Ask the young people in your life what they know about and think about money and see where the conversation takes you.

Join our Patreon to support this work, and connect with us and other listeners to discuss these issues even further.

Let us know what you think of this episode, suggest future topics, or share your story with us – @integratedschls on twitter, IntegratedSchools on Facebook, or email us [email protected].

The Integrated Schools Podcast was created by Courtney Mykytyn and Andrew Lefkowits.

This episode was produced by Andrew Lefkowits and Val Brown. It was edited, and mixed by Andrew Lefkowits.

Music by Kevin Casey.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Dr. Jasmine Clark is a microbiologist by training, but in the wake of the 2016 election, as she says, she went from a scientist to a mad scientist. She felt called to get involved, first with the Atlanta March for Science, and then to actually run for office. As the first Black woman elected to represent a solidly suburban house district in Georgia, her perspective on the ways the suburbs are changing is invaluable. She joins us to discuss the disconnect between the mostly White vision of the suburbs baked into popular conception, and the reality of our suburbs today.

Plus, we talk about the importance of making your voice heard through voting. While we know that voting alone is rarely sufficient to create change, we deeply believe that it’s a crucial step towards justice. So, if you are reading this and haven’t voted yet, please, go vote!

LINKS:

• Red Wine and Blue
• The Suburban Women Problem Podcast
• Vote.gov – for local registration information as well as polling places

Join our Patreon to support this work, and connect with us and other listeners to discuss these issues even further.

Let us know what you think of this episode, suggest future topics, or share your story with us – @integratedschls on twitter, IntegratedSchools on Facebook, or email us [email protected].

The Integrated Schools Podcast was created by Courtney Mykytyn and Andrew Lefkowits.

This episode was produced by Andrew Lefkowits and Val Brown. It was edited, and mixed by Andrew Lefkowits.

Music by Kevin Casey.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Research shows that parent engagement can improve outcomes, yet the existing research relies on a very narrow definition of “parent engagement”, and is inconclusive about who benefits from that engagement. It is clear that already advantaged students benefit from the presence of PTAs and other forms of parent engagement in schools. However, those benefits do not flow to all students equally.

Dr. Brittany Murray‘s research focuses on race, families, and school inequality. Following in the footsteps of scholars who have begun to problematize the question of parental engagement, Dr. Murray asks us to consider if parent involvement is the universal good we’ve been led to believe it is. When we see the consistent representation problems that plague PTAs across the country, we have to ask how we can engage in ways that work to benefit all students and not just the children of those who are most able to participate in our narrow definition of parental engagement.

LINKS:

• Dr. Murray’s paper on bridging vs bonding social capital
• Dr. Annette Lareau
• Dr. Jessica Calarco
• Her episode on our show
• Her paper,  Avoiding Us Versus Them – on privilege dependance.
• Her book, Negotiating Opportunity: How the Middle Class Secures Advantages in School
• Dr. Joyce Epstein’s work
• Dr. Linn Posey-Maddox
• Dr. Maia Cucchiara
• Dr. Christine Woyshner
• Dr. Putnam‘s Bowling Alone
• Dr. Victor Ray on racialized organizations
• Granovetter paper about the strength of weak ties
• Dr. Ann Ishimaru
• Her episode on our show
• Her book, Just Schools: Building Equitable Collaborations with Families and Communities

ACTION STEPS:

• Get involved in ways that push back on opportunity hoarding
• When you do get involved, name that you are not looking for special treatment for your kid and that your commitment is to ALL kids.
• Work to create opportunities for community building outside of the traditional PTA context
• Share this episode with your school community
• Be the change we seek 🙂 at Patreon.com/integratedschools

Use these links or start at our Bookshop.org storefront to support local bookstores, and send a portion of the proceeds back to us.

Join our Patreon to support this work, and connect with us and other listeners to discuss these issues even further.

Let us know what you think of this episode, suggest future topics, or share your story with us – @integratedschls on twitter, IntegratedSchools on Facebook, or email us [email protected].

The Integrated Schools Podcast was created by Courtney Mykytyn and Andrew Lefkowits.

This episode was produced by Andrew Lefkowits and Val Brown. It was edited, and mixed by Andrew Lefkowits.

Music by Kevin Casey.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

In February of 2021, Heather McGhee’s book, The Sum of Us came out. With a focus on the ways in which racism harms everyone, and the potential good that can come from cross-racial coalitions, the book was exciting to us. When we realized that Integrated Schools, and leadership team member, Ali Takata, were featured prominently in the chapter about education, we were blown away.

The book is based around three main concepts.  The first is the “zero-sum lie of racial hierarchy”, or the idea that progress for people of color necessarily has to come at White folks’ expense. The second is the idea of the “drained pool,” the disinvestment by White people in public goods simply because they have to share them with people of color. And finally, the “solidarity dividend,” the idea of gains that we can unlock, but only when we come together across lines of race.

This last idea, the most hopeful, inspired Ms. McGhee to go back on the road and make a podcast documenting examples of the Solidarity Dividend in action. She joins us to discuss the podcast, what it means to be a good ally, the power of relationships in sustaining movements, and what role the Integrated Schools community should play in participating in the current, cross-racial movement for public education.

LINKS

• Ms. McGhee’s first appearance on our show
• The Sum of Us Podcast
• The Sum of Us Book
• James Haslem from HEAL Together
• Ms. McGhee and Victor Ray’s Op-Ed in the NYT
• California Calls – organizing in California
• Ms. McGhee’s mother – Dr. Gail Christopher
• Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation

ACTION STEPS

• Listen to The Sum of Us Podcast
• Read The Sum of Us Book
• Get involved locally – find organizations that align with your values, and just show up!
• Take opportunities to share space with folks – school pick up/ drop off is a great place to start
• Share stories off cross racial solidarity with others. Stories from The Sum of Us, from our podcast, or from your own life.

Use these links or start at our Bookshop.org storefront to support local bookstores, and send a portion of the proceeds back to us.

Join our Patreon to support this work, and connect with us and other listeners to discuss these issues even further.

Let us know what you think of this episode, suggest future topics, or share your story with us – @integratedschls on twitter, IntegratedSchools on Facebook, or email us [email protected].

The Integrated Schools Podcast was created by Courtney Mykytyn and Andrew Lefkowits.

This episode was produced by Andrew Lefkowits and Val Brown. It was edited, and mixed by Andrew Lefkowits.

Music by Kevin Casey.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

We’re back!! Kicking off Season 9 with a conversation between Val and Andrew about transitions.

We have just transitioned back to school, and this year feels the most “normal” in quite some time. Additionally, we both have kids who have transitioned to new schools, including the transition to middle school for Andrew’s oldest, and high school for Val’s oldest. We reflect on new forms of parent engagement in these new schools, how we are thinking about empowering our kids to make their own choices while still upholding our family values, and the importance of continuing conversations about race with our kids as they get older.

Plus, we have many of your thoughts about this time of transition. We LOVE hearing from you, so please continue to send us voice memos – just find the voice memo app on your phone, record whatever is on your mind, and email it to us at [email protected].

For Season 9, we are thinking about action. We know the world can’t change unless we change the way we think, but we also know that simply changing the way we think isn’t enough, so for every episode, we will be including action steps that we encourage you to take after listening.

Action Steps – Ep 1:

• Have explicit conversations about who is in class with your young people, who are they hanging out with, who is in their friend group.
• Consider how we, as parents, caregivers, educators, school leaders, can facilitate cross-racial friendships for our kids.
• Connect with the Integrated Schools community, so you don’t feel alone in your fight for justice in your community.
• Send the teachers in your life a note of thanks and offer of support.

LINKS:

• Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum’s Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?
• The Integrated Schools Two Tour Pledge
• Jersey City Together – Education Team

If you’d like to support this work, we’d be grateful if you went to our Patreon and became a supporter.

Let us know what you think of this episode, suggest future topics, or share your story with us – @integratedschls on twitter, IntegratedSchools on Facebook, or email us [email protected].

The Integrated Schools Podcast was created by Courtney Mykytyn and Andrew Lefkowits.

This episode was produced by Andrew Lefkowits and Val Brown. It was edited, and mixed by Andrew Lefkowits.

Music by Kevin Casey.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

FROM 2019

Intensive Parenting – helicopter, lawnmower, snowplow, free-range – is often pursued by White and privileged parents as a way to protect kids from failure and to ensure that they end up on the “winning” side of the vast economic inequality in our country. However, the ways that White and privileged parenting norms impact entire school communities often end up perpetuating existing disparities.

We’re joined by Dr. Jessica Calarco, Associate Professor of Sociology at Indiana University, who studies inequity in family life and education. Her recent book, Negotiating Opportunity: How the Middle Class Secures Advantages in School, highlights many of the challenges that come with socioeconomically diverse schools.

How we show up as integrating parents, how we navigate the line between asking-for-assistance and asking-for-(expecting?)-accommodations, and how we parent our own children has an impact on the other students and families in the school.

Links:

• Jessica Calarco. Associate Professor of Sociology at Indiana University.
• Dr. Calarco – Negotiating Opportunity: How the Middle Class Secures Advantages in School
• Mental Floss discussion of Dr. Calarco’s study of New Yorker cartoons
• Dr. Calarco – Free Range’ Parenting’s Unfair Double Standard
• Viviana Zelizer – Pricing the Priceless Child
• Sinikka Elliott & Sarah Bowen – Pressure Cooker: Why Home Cooking Won’t Solve Our Problems and What We Can Do About It

Use these links or start at our Bookshop.org storefront to support local bookstores, and send a portion of the proceeds back to us.

Join our Patreon to support this work, and connect with us and other listeners to discuss these issues even further.

Let us know what you think of this episode, suggest future topics, or share your story with us – @integratedschls on twitter, IntegratedSchools on Facebook, or email us [email protected].

The Integrated Schools Podcast was created by Courtney Mykytyn and Andrew Lefkowits.

This episode was produced by Andrew Lefkowits and Courtney Mykytyn. It was edited, and mixed by Andrew Lefkowits.

Music by Kevin Casey.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

FROM 2019: Beth is a mom of two grappling with race, parenting and her own privilege in America. Looking back over the past year, we follow Beth as she learns how the choices she makes for her daughters’ schooling shapes how she lives in her city… where she belongs, who she calls “WE.”

Part 5 finds Beth starting her second year at the school across the interstate. Meanwhile, her district, like many across the country, is in the midst of some upheaval – declining enrollment, school closures, consolidation. Being a part of the new school community has allowed Beth a different vantage point through which to understand it all…

Special thanks to Beth, Nadia and Maya for being so honest, open and vulnerable, and then allowing us to share that with the world.

Let us know what you think of this episode, suggest future topics, or share your story with us – @integratedschls on twitter, IntegratedSchools on Facebook, or email us [email protected].

The Integrated Schools Podcast was created by Courtney Mykytyn and Andrew Lefkowits.

This episode was produced by Andrew Lefkowits and Courtney Mykytyn. It was edited, and mixed by Andrew Lefkowits.

Music by BlueDot Sessions.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

FROM 2019: Beth is a mom of two grappling with race, parenting and her own privilege in America. Looking back over the past year, we follow Beth as she learns how the choices she makes for her daughters’ schooling shapes how she lives in her city… where she belongs, who she calls “WE.”

Beth and her daughters reflect back on the year at their new school — the challenges, the differences, the joys. The transitions may not have been easy, but they all have felt a personal growth… and are learning about different ways to be.

Let us know what you think of this episode, suggest future topics, or share your story with us – @integratedschls on twitter, IntegratedSchools on Facebook, or email us [email protected].

The Integrated Schools Podcast was created by Courtney Mykytyn and Andrew Lefkowits.

This episode was produced by Andrew Lefkowits and Courtney Mykytyn. It was edited, and mixed by Andrew Lefkowits.

Music by BlueDot Sessions.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

FROM 2019: Beth is a mom of two grappling with race, parenting and her own privilege in America. Looking back over the past year, we follow Beth as she learns how the choices she makes for her daughters’ schooling shapes how she lives in her city… where she belongs, who she calls “WE.”

In part 3, we look back at a year that has been transformative for Beth — but not necessarily in the ways she expected. From thinking about her role in the PTA, to her racial identity, to how she relates to her former school community, Beth finds herself very much in-between. And while it can be lonely, it can also be liberating…

Let us know what you think of this episode, suggest future topics, or share your story with us – @integratedschls on twitter, IntegratedSchools on Facebook, or email us [email protected].

The Integrated Schools Podcast was created by Courtney Mykytyn and Andrew Lefkowits.

This episode was produced by Andrew Lefkowits and Courtney Mykytyn. It was edited, and mixed by Andrew Lefkowits.

Music by BlueDot Sessions.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

FROM 2019: Beth is a mom of two grappling with race, parenting and her own privilege in America. Looking back over the past year, we follow Beth as she learns how the choices she makes for her daughters’ schooling shapes how she lives in her city… where she belongs, who she calls “WE.”

In part 2, we find Beth two months into the school year grappling with the differences between the new school and the former one, trying to make sense of how she and her family fit into these two communities.

Let us know what you think of this episode, suggest future topics, or share your story with us – @integratedschls on twitter, IntegratedSchools on Facebook, or email us [email protected].

The Integrated Schools Podcast was created by Courtney Mykytyn and Andrew Lefkowits.

This episode was produced by Andrew Lefkowits and Courtney Mykytyn. It was edited, and mixed by Andrew Lefkowits.

Music by BlueDot Sessions.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands