Gentrification in Education
In this series for my Urban Dynamics and Social Change journalism course, I worked with three of my peers to develop stories and a podcast about the impact of gentrification on education in Lakeview and Uptown in Chicago.
In this podcast that I co-wrote and edited, I spoke about the impact of parent groups investing in neighborhood schools in gentrifying areas. My co-writer and I spoke with parents that were members of parent-teacher organizations at various schools and featured their experiences in supporting neighborhood schools. They also discussed how gentrification impacted their schools in multifaceted ways. I talked about how the parents demonstrated that gentrification can sometimes lead to more investment in schools, paradoxically detracting from the education of those who were pushed out of the neighborhood to begin with.
My section of this report focuses on on the Stewart School Loft Apartments, a luxury apartment complex that replaced the Graeme Stewart Elementary neighborhood school in Uptown, Chicago. The school that formerly served a diverse range of nearby students was shut down by Chicago Public Schools due to low enrollment and was bought by a development group that now advertises a “schoolhouse vibe,” in apartments ranging from about $1,600 to $4,000 in rent. In this story, I demonstrated how the lofts represent a shift in Chicago from prioritizing neighborhood schools and local culture to prioritizing profit. The shutdown of Graeme Stewart illustrated a trend of neighborhood schools closing due to low enrollment and financial challenges stemming from rising prices and land developer buyouts. I emphasized how Chicago neighborhood activists saw a connection between the decline of neighborhood schools with systemic discrimination against less wealthy communities, as poor students of color are more systemically pushed out of good schools with gentrification.
From the same class: Black Ensemble Theater Feature
This feature focuses on the Black Ensemble Theater, a theater in Uptown, Chicago with a mission of antiracism. The theater pursues this mission through impactful theater and educational outreach for underserved community members. I spoke with an actress at the theater, the producing managing director of the theater, an employee at Uptown United and the Chamber of Commerce, as well as a sponsor of the theater, to learn more about the organization and its impact. My story included research on gentrification in Uptown and on the programs the theater offers, as well as photos of the theater that I took. By looking at the past, present and future of the theater, I learned about and shared its mission of antiracism and the work that it inspires in the context of surrounding gentrification.