School Choice, Stratification, and Civil Rights: The Buffalo Story

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Competitive admissions choice systems have been criticized for enrolling disproportionately low shares of students of color, thus stratifying students by race and providing inequitable access to educational opportunities. Following a 2014 civil rights complaint against Buffalo Public Schools, we identified barriers to equitable access in BPS’s criteria-based schools and provided policy options for the district to consider. We used mixed methods, including document analysis, statistical analysis of demographic and achievement data, as well as interviews, focus groups, and surveys of educators, parents, and students. These five papers, together with a discussant with expertise in civil rights and law, provide researchers, policymakers, and practitioners with critical information to help inform decisions regarding competitive admissions choice programs and choice efforts more generally.

Sub Unit

• Division L - Educational Policies and Politics / Division L - Section 4: School Choice and Market Reforms

Chair

• Gary A. Orfield, University of California - Los Angeles

Papers

• Segregation, Desegregation, and Resegregation: The Rise of Buffalo's Two-Tiered School System - Jenna Tomasello, American Youth Policy Forum

• Exploring Disparities in Enrollment and Its Relationship With Academic Outcomes - Jongyeon Ee, University of California - Los Angeles

• How Researchers Can Give Voice to a Marginalized Community - Gary A. Orfield, University of California - Los Angeles; Brian Woodward, University of California - Los Angeles; Jenn Ayscue, University of California - Los Angeles

• Identifying Barriers to Access in Buffalo Public Schools - Brian Woodward, University of California - Los Angeles; Natasha Amlani

• How to Equalize Access to Competitive Schools of Choice - Jenn Ayscue, University of California - Los Angeles; Genevieve Parker Siegel-Hawley, Virginia Commonwealth University

Discussant

• John Brittain, University of the District of Columbia