Learning in Public

Starred review from June 28, 2021
Journalist Martin (Do It Anyway) delivers a remarkably candid and perceptive account of her decision to enroll her daughter in a majority Black public school in Oakland, Calif. With a “1 out of 10 rating” on GreatSchools.org, Emerson Elementary was not on the radar of other white parents in Martin’s racially diverse, gentrifying neighborhood. Yet, on Martin’s school tours, which included a private school whose social justice mission was belied by its carefully selected student body, Emerson stood out for its authenticity. In brisk, immersive chapters, Martin chronicles how she and her husband came to make their decision and her daughter’s first three years at Emerson, and delves into conflicting viewpoints over school integration and the best ways to measure school performance, tensions between Emerson’s Black immigrant and Black American families, and the role of public education in fostering democracy, among other topics. Ultimately, her family came to embrace Emerson, “a school with strong muscles for crises” that showed its resilience by coping better with the Covid-19 pandemic than more highly rated public schools. Vividly documenting school fund-raisers, contentious school board meetings, school drop offs, and back-to-school nights, Martin challenges preconceptions about American education and race relations today. Readers will be inspired and enlightened. Agent: Kari Stuart, ICM Partners.

July 1, 2021
A feminist activist explores the benefits of White parents enrolling their children in predominantly Black public schools. Martin, the author of Do It Anyways: The New Generation of Activists and other socially conscious works of nonfiction, chronicles how she and her husband, both White, moved to Oakland, California, the "second most racially diverse city in the nation," and bought a house in a "cohousing community." Due to their relative privilege, she and her husband were able to choose where to send their young daughters to school--the operative word being choose, an option not available to many people. Regardless, Martin, an educated, progressive, well-meaning person, did her research. She learned that the closest public school was Emerson Elementary, rated "failing" and made up largely of Black students--while the other schools both public and private in the area were predominantly White, higher rated, and characterized by long waiting lists for admission. Essentially, the author is seeking answers to some fundamental questions regarding education--e.g., what are Whites parents afraid of, and what does that choice say about them? For Martin, it became a vital personal journey: "It was as if the universe dared me both to give up altogether on this quest for the White moral life, which felt like frivolous intellectual bullshit in the face of my kid's real needs, and simultaneously to double down." Studies show that integration helps all students, Black and White, notes the author--though she was also careful not to make an "experiment" of her daughters. Ultimately, she writes, "I suspect that White economically privileged and well-intentioned people have shirked our moral responsibility to the common good for decades under the cover of responsible parenting." Though the White guilt is sometimes overly pronounced, Martin offers a welcome contribution to an important conversation that should continue as we strive for sustained social change. An honest, searching, and progressive book that will spark debate.

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July 16, 2021

Drawing on firsthand experience, Martin (Do It Anyways) explores the issue of school choice among wealthy white parents in Oakland, CA. She felt torn between sending her children to a local school, where students were mostly Black and brown and standardized test scores were low, and a top-ranked, predominantly white school. Martin, a wealthy white parent herself, begins this book by examining her own internal struggle: Though she wanted to give her children the best opportunities, she also wanted to stay true to her beliefs about the importance of integrated schools. Later, she explores teacher strikes, contentious school mergers, budget cuts, and the impact of COVID-19. She describes members of the Oakland school community in vivid detail, creating an especially interesting cast of characters for a nonfiction work. Martin's musings sometimes read as self-involved, but the narrative will resonate with like-minded (particularly white) parents in similar economic situations. VERDICT The author's choice to share her own story is laudable, and her work effectively unpacks the ways white Americans engage in racist and economically disadvantaging structures. It is, by design, a largely one-sided narrative, but one that many readers, especially parents of young children, will appreciate.--Sarah Schroeder, Univ. of Washington Bothell

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