Parents’ Views of a Gifted and Talented Phase Out Proposal: The Aspirational Class and the Disruption of Racial Inequities in Diverse Schools

In this article, I examined parents’ views of a gifted and talented (G&T) phase out proposal in an effort to document how the aspirational class can disrupt, instead of reproduce, racial inequities in diverse schools. Using qualitative methods, I found that parents’ educational consumption practices fit with their philosophy of education, value system and identity, and cultural capital. Some enrolled their child in the G&T program as a cultural signal to others about their high status positioning, their ability to volunteer and fundraise, and future academic aspirations for their child. Meanwhile, other parents advocated for the phase out proposal as a cultural signifier of their community values and focus on non-academic outcomes. When confronted with the negative outcomes of segregated programs, some aspirational class parents can and will push back on the structures of inequality by supporting integration goals.