Leaders for Justice Restoring Dignity in Urban Schools Through the Narratives of Black and Latinx Parents

Roundtable presentation at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting (Conference cancelled due to Covid-19) A pernicious trend in urban education in the US is an exodus of children from schools. This has resulted in declining resources, teacher and staff layoffs, and cash-poor and land rich school districts. To understand what is responsible for this trend as well as to recognize how leaders for social justice may improve educational outcomes for students, the researchers launched a mixed-method study with African-American and Latinx parents whose children attended a large urban school district with declining enrollment. The paper shares the parents’ narratives generated in focus group sessions. The narratives revealed improving academic offerings, reducing class size, increasing school staff, fostering humanistic relationships and embracing diversity are essential for restoring dignity in urban schools and stopping declining enrollmen