The Trouble with Leadership: How Principals Define and Undermine the Concept of Community in an Equity-Centered Initiative

In this study, we utilized document analysis and interviews to examine how school principals and their teams understood the concept of "community" in an equity-centered Community Schools initiative in New York City. Interviews with principals and school staff revealed that community was understood in three ways: as a process, as a place, and as a resource. While the school leaders seem well intended, we found that White supremacy ideologies and neoliberal values can influence the way leadership teams view community members and community needs, even in equity-centered initiatives.