In an era of widening inequality, competition, and high-stakes accountability, both the study and practice of education leadership have yielded largely to what Cuban (1988) characterized as the “managerial imperative” of leadership in schools. This symposium examines, from multiple perspectives, how school leaders navigate, mediate, and negotiate the realities of community disinvestment, gentrification, and corporate reform in an era of severe educational inequality and injustice. Participants: - Stuck Getting Ready: Exploring the Emotional Underpinnings of a Racial-Equity School Improvement Project Decoteau J. Irby, University of Illinois at Chicago - “The Souls of Our Children are at Stake”: A Principal Takes a Stand Rosa Rivera-McCutchen, Lehman College CUNY - Leaping from Criticality: Self-Determination and Educational Leadership Muhammad Khalifa, University of Minnesota; Gevonee Ford, Network for the Development of Children of African Descent (NDCAD) - How Schools and School Leaders Mediate Urban Gentrification Chy Benelli McGhee, New York University; Gary L. Anderson, New York University - Decolonizing Latin@ Leadership in a Chican@ City? How a Just Political and Humane Framework Can Serve Brown Students, Families and Communities. Enrique Aleman, Jr. University of Texas at San Antonio
