logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2020
45m 4s

Nice White Parents - Ep. 3

Serial Productions & The New York Times
About this episode

Chana Joffe-Walt explores how white parents can shape a school — even when they aren’t there.

She traces the history of I.S. 293, now the Boerum Hill School for International Studies, from the 1980s through the modern education reforms of the 2000s. In the process, Chana talks to alumni who loved their school and never questioned why it was on the edge of a white neighborhood. To them, it was just where everyone went. But she also speaks to some who watched the school change over the years and questioned whether a local community school board was secretly plotting against 293.

To get full access to this show, and to other Serial Productions and New York Times podcasts on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, subscribe at nytimes.com/podcasts.

To find out about new shows from Serial Productions, and get a look behind the scenes, sign up for our newsletter at nytimes.com/serialnewsletter.

Have a story pitch, a tip, or feedback on our shows? Email us at serialshows@nytimes.com 

Up next
Yesterday
The Retrievals, Season 2 - Trailer
C-sections are the most frequently performed major surgeries in the world. So why do so many patients feel severe pain during them? Season 2 of the award-winning podcast “The Retrievals” is an investigation into this underreported problem — and the new effort to solve it.Listen w ... Show More
4m 24s
Feb 2025
The Good Whale - Ep. 6
After a month at sea, Keiko pops up near a Norwegian fishing village, causing a stir among the residents and his own team of caretakers. They figure that if they wait until spring, maybe Keiko will swim off again with a wild pod. If they can all just make it to spring. Our newest ... Show More
35m 34s
Feb 2025
The Good Whale - Ep. 5
Keiko disappears in Icelandic waters, swimming east for four weeks. Unobserved, with no human contact. Since nobody knows what happened to Keiko during that mysterious time, we decided to recreate it — as a musical. From Keiko’s perspective, naturally. Watch the music video for " ... Show More
15 m
Recommended Episodes
Aug 2020
3: ‘This Is Our School, How Dare You?’
Chana Joffe-Walt explores how white parents can shape a school — even when they aren’t there.She traces the history of I.S. 293, now the Boerum Hill School for International Studies, from the 1980s through the modern education reforms of the 2000s. In the process, Chana talks to ... Show More
45m 3s
Jul 2020
2: 'I Still Believe in It'
Chana Joffe-Walt searches the New York City Board of Education archives for more information about the School for International Studies, which was originally called I.S. 293.In the process, she finds a folder of letters written in 1963 by mostly white families in Cobble Hill, Bro ... Show More
53m 26s
Aug 2020
5: ‘We Know It When We See It’
This episode contains strong language.Chana has traced the history of the school from its founding and come to the present. But now: One unexpected last chapter. Last year, the school district for BHS mandated a change in the zoning process to ensure all of middle schools will be ... Show More
52m 22s
Jul 2020
1: The Book of Statuses
It’s 2015 and one Brooklyn middle school is about to receive a huge influx of new students.In this episode, Chana Joffe-Walt, a reporter, follows what happens when the School of International Studies’ 6th grade class swells from 30 mostly Latino, Black and Middle Eastern students ... Show More
1h 1m
Aug 2020
4: 'Here’s Another Fun Thing You Can Do'
Public schools are inequitable because the school systems are maniacally loyal to white families. We can’t have equitable public education unless schools limit the disproportionate power of white parents. But is that even possible? Chana finds two schools that are trying to do ju ... Show More
48m 54s
Oct 2016
'All they see is your race, because that is what's written on your body' | Christina Ho
It’s impossible to talk about rising pressure in education without addressing the elephant in the room, that is, the prevalence of children of Asian background working overtime for their excellent academic outcomes in our schools, particularly our selective schools. People are re ... Show More
25m 8s
May 2024
228: A Conversation About School Choice
The rights of parents to choose the best school for their children — also known as school choice — may seem simple on the surface, but it's anything but, and it has the potential to impact teachers and students all over the country. In this episode, I talk with Cara Fitzpatrick, ... Show More
50m 36s
Aug 2023
Jennifer Keys Adair and Kiyomi Sánchez-Suzuki Colegrove, "Segregation by Experience: Agency, Racism, and Learning in the Early Grades" (U Chicago Press, 2021)
Early childhood can be a time of rich discovery, a period when educators have an opportunity to harness their students’ fascination to create unique learning opportunities. Some teachers engage with their students’ ideas in ways that make learning collaborative--but not all stude ... Show More
35m 6s