School Choice and Student Neighborhoods: Evidence From the Milwaukee Voucher Program

• In Event: Competition and Choice

Abstract

Our objective is to move beyond the debate over whether voucher programs “work” in terms of outcomes, and to consider instead the contexts in which students who do choose make their decisions. Our primary question is: do voucher schools draw from better public schools and city neighborhoods in the first place, or do they draw students most in need of alternative options? Using several advanced quantitative techniques, we consider whether voucher students are located in city neighborhoods that contribute more or less to student outcomes. This allows us to consider the academic tradeoffs that students make within a school system that comes as close to providing a competitive market for schooling options as any empirical context in the U.S.

Authors

• Joshua M. Cowen, Michigan State University

• Deven Edward Carlson, University of Oklahoma