ABSTRACT
Already there school personnel knew that affluent Hillsdale school patrons negotiated school advantage and segregation, but most saw this as legitimate parental behavior. In contrast, in-the-middle teachers and administrators disapproved of their actions and were upset about disparities, favoritism, and elitism. The essence of any social class system is that resources flow to powerful constituencies, and an unequal distribution of material and status resources exist. Yet it is also the nature of the system for those on the losing end of the distribution to protest and resist the implicit hierarchies. After many close readings of interview transcripts and much pondering over teachers’ narratives, I came to the conclusion that damaging repercussions for school equity arise not only from status and power differentials between affluent families and poor families but also from differentials within school personnel.
