Reproducing Segregation: Parent Involvement, Diversity, and School Governance

Abstract

Government programs currently mandate direct parental input in school governance. In comparing the actions of low-income Latino parents with those of middle-income White and Asian parents within the context of school governance, we found that although both groups actively sought and achieved reforms in order to improve their children's education, the eventual outcomes of their efforts differed. This study suggests that within multicultural settings, diverse parent constituencies advocate changes in categorical programs like bilingual and gifted and talented education that impact classroom integration, and the ultimate program beneficiaries tend to be the children from higher income households.

Key words:

• parent involvement
• school governance
• diversity
• social reproduction
• cultural reproduction
• educational policy

Notes

¹Designation of a student as gifted and talented was mediated by a high score on the Raven Progressive Matrices Test. The highest scorers were designated GATE “seminar.” Hill Park did not offer separate elite seminar classes, so children who “tested seminar” often left to go to other public schools in the district that offered the special classes.

²GATE students also brought increased funds into the school; however, per capita GATE allocations were far lower than the Title I funds generated by low-income Latino children. Title I refers to federal funds supplied to public schools on the basis of the income level of children's families under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.

³“For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath” (Matthew 25:29).

⁴Complicating this issue was the demand by the school district that the school have sufficient students to fill the bilingual classrooms. Additionally, bilingual teachers form a special interest group. In many districts, bilingual teachers receive extra pay for their positions, and/or the positions are dependent on the numbers of children enrolled in bilingual classes.

⁵It is also likely that the children's academic performance was affected by the language shift to English for all instruction. After 3 or 4 years in the school, the children's social English might have been quite fluent, but the development of their academic English would have required another 3 to 5 years. Therefore, a temporary downward shift in academic achievement would not be unexpected (see Grogent, Jameson, Franco, & Derrick-Mescua, 2000; Miramontes, Nadeau, & Commins, 1997; Short, Hudec, & Echevarria, 2002).