Nice White Parents

The  New York Times ‘ Serial Productions conducted a deep dive into the New York Public school system,  among the most segregated  in the country, for a podcast that is difficult to stop thinking about once you’ve heard it. Host Chana Joffe-Walt presents a stunning portrait of just how much power even the most liberal, well-intentioned white parents wield in the public school system, often to the benefit of their own children and the detriment of BIPOC students. The first episode brings listeners to a fundraising gala that not all the parents can afford to attend and some cringe-inducing displays of white privilege that should be mandatory listening for anyone who wants to sit on a PTA. Joffe-Walt makes clear that choosing where to send a child to school is the ultimate test of many white parents’ stated liberal values—and when push comes to shove, they choose their child’s future test scores over the diverse community they purport to desire. Everybody in this podcast wants the same thing: more equitable education. But nobody can seem to agree on how to reach that goal, especially in an intransigent school system. The show excels when it lays out the arguments and obstacles, inevitably stoking debate among listeners. The podcast introduces issues that have been laid bare since it debuted in July, now that the coronavirus has  exacerbated   class   divides , with well-off parents hiring tutors and arranging learning pods for their children as other parents are left with little recourse. We may emerge from this pandemic with an even more inequitable school system than we had before: it would be fertile ground for a second season of the year’s most fascinating podcast.