A City Unites and Defuses a School Culture War

An Inspiring Story of a Community that Overcomes Division to Build a Stronger School System

This three-part podcast is about a school culture war that was rumbling in Middleton, Ohio, a city in the heart of America's Rust Belt. Inspired by Courtney E. Martin’s article in the Christian Science Monitor, this is a story about the unusual steps a courageous and humble superintendent took to defuse what could have been a protracted and divisive conflict — the kind that is wreaking havoc on countless school districts across the nation.

View this 4-minute summary of the series:

This podcast series about Middletown, Ohio is the story of a politically and racially diverse city in America’s Rust Belt that successfully navigated a storm of division and mistrust. This is a tale of strong, humble leadership and of resilience and unity.

In the first episode, we set the stage for the unfolding drama. Middletown’s school leaders faced intense allegations over health mandates and the district's commitment to diversity and equity. Superintendent Marlon Styles found himself at the center of a smoldering culture war, one that threatened to tear the community apart. In the second episode, we learn about the unusual steps Styles took to defuse the conflict. Instead of taking on his critics, he chose a different path: he listened to them. He also asked for help from a diverse group of community leaders.

Style’s approach was both courageous and humble. Knowing that defending his actions would only add fuel to the fire, he decided instead to reach out to the “quiet majority”—a diverse group of community members whose trust he had already obtained. Some of them, who Styles called “The Positive Gossipers," and several members of the Ministerial Alliance, like Michael Bailey and John Wagner, played a crucial role in defusing tensions. Faith leaders, parents, and other concerned residents speak out, not with anger or contempt for Styles’ critics but with compassion and a genuine interest in what mattered to them—the well-being of their city’s children.

In the third and final episode, we hear from several community leaders and some outside observers who reflect on the key lessons that emerge from this story—lessons that could be of value to school leaders across the country in the midst of their own culture wars or those looking for strategies to prevent them from occurring in the first place.

Here are a few of their takeaways:

  • “I love the story because we desperately need examples of how people and communities manage to get out of dysfunctional conflict…The only way to learn is by finding these outliers of positive deviance, communities that managed to not implode in conflict and learn from what they did.”

    -Amanda Ripley, author of High Conflict - Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out

  • “I would understand anyone's cynicism about revitalizing civic culture. I think it is daunting, but I really don't think we have a choice. I look at my kids and I don't have a choice. I want them to live in a country that actually reflects their values and reflects a sense that there is wide public participation…that we look out for each other….”

    - Courtney E. Martin, author of “Stopping culture wars in their tracks: How one city did it”

  • “It was a very natural story for the Monitor because we care about solutions, we care about getting beneath the conflict to the good that is going on…I so admired the protagonist, Marlon Styles, in his enthusiasm, his willingness to take instruction and then turn that into something so much more. I think a lot more listening in the world would help us.”

    -Trudy Palmer, Cover Story Editor, The Christian Science Monitor

  • “There's a strategy, a way of introducing a topic that will get you the results, or at least allow you to be heard most effectively, but that conversation needs to happen before there's a crisis, before the temperature in the room rises so high that you cannot take that pause to say, okay, I need to understand their perspective.”

    - Mark Frazer, former board member, Middletown City Schools

  • “I think that what Superintendent Styles did was just exactly right. Ask pastors to do what they do best, and that is to come in and say something to a community, remind them of their values… and our common humanity, and to kind of tone down the rhetoric.”

    - John Wagner, retired Middletown minister

  • "The Middletown Ohio story is incredibly important because it establishes that a hardworking, focused superintendent who really cares about the entire community that they're working in can make a difference during these extraordinary times. The temptation always when you get hit with criticism is to defend yourself. And I love what superintendent Syles did. Rather than the traditional, oh my gosh, how am I going to defend the district and myself? He said, I’ve got to listen."

    - Carl Cohn, former superintendent of Long Beach Unified and San Diego Unified School Districts in California

For educators, parents, and community leaders, we hope our story about Middletown’s serves as a reminder that in the face of seemingly insurmountable conflict, there is often a path forward, especially if we choose to listen and to seek common ground.

Please take a moment to share the series with friends, colleagues, and journalists who might enjoy hearing this story.

Middie Rising - A City Unites and Defuses a Culture War

Middie Rising - A City Unites and Defuses a School Culture War (Ep. 1 of 3)

In Episode 1, you will hear why police had been called in to maintain order at a tension-filled school board meeting; you’ll hear the voices of angry parents accusing Marlon Styles, the district’s first Black superintendent, of promoting racist practices in the district’s schools; you will hear others condemn the school board for violating students’ rights with their mandatory mask policy.

Middie Rising - A City Unites and Defuses a School Culture War (Ep. 2 of 3)

In Episode 2, you will learn about the unusual steps Superintendent Styles took to respond to the allegations. Surprisingly, he didn’t fight back. Instead, he listened to his critics, asked for help, and rallied the city’s “quiet majority.” These counterintuitive steps defused a smoldering culture war, enabling the district to focus on other serious challenges effecting student learning.

Middie Rising - A City Unites and Defuses a School Culture War (Ep. 3 of 3)

In Episode 3, you will hear from Middletown’s community leaders and several outside observers who reflect on the tangible lessons this story teaches and the “credible” hope it offers to school and community leaders across the country.

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