We Ain’t Going Nowhere: An In-Depth Look at a Community’s Successful Opposition to a School Closure Recommendation

Abstract

The occurrence of urban school closures in the United States has increased over time, and as of 2014, they have affected over 200,000 students nationwide. Education researchers cite the negative impacts that school closures pose on students, families, and communities, especially those of African and Latinx descent. Research suggests that neoliberal campaigns for education reform are at the root of school closures and are justified by gaps in student achievement which result from decades of disinvestment (Lipman, 2015). However, in some urban communities’ collective activism and resistance has served as a powerful tool for overturning school closure recommendations. The purpose of this study is to understand how and why students, parents, community members and teachers oppose school closure recommendations. The research questions explored in this study were “Why did students, parents, community members and teachers of North High School oppose the closure of their school?” and “How did students, parents, community members and teachers of North High School successfully overturn the recommendation to close their school?” This study was conducted using case study methodology with a relativist orientation. The case study methodology allowed for the specific investigation of the case of North High School and highlighted the marginalized counter-perspectives of students, parents, teachers and community members. This study investigated the oppositional strategies implemented by community members of North Minneapolis to overturn the recommendation to close North Community High School. This case study draws on interview and archived document data and describes how and why members of the North Minneapolis community opposed the recommendation to close North High School. Participants of the case study were selected using purposive homogenous sampling; respondents include those individuals who self-identified as alumni, former teachers and parents of alumni who opposed the closure of North High School. Tenets of the critical race theory framework are used to guide the analysis. Findings indicate that North Minneapolis community members perceived North High School as a community gem worth saving, which countered the districts’ perspective of the school as failing. As a result of their counter-perspective, community members leveraged collective action and voice to politically pressure the Minneapolis Public Schools school board to vote against the recommendation to close North High School. This study offers implications for communities facing school closure, policy and future research.