Shopping for Schools or Shopping for Peers: Public Schools and Catchment Area Segregation

• In Event: 66.039 - School Choice and Segregation: Evidence on Equity, Achievement, and Diversity

Abstract

Market theory positions the consumer as a rational choice actor, making informed schooling choices on the basis of ‘hard’ evidence of relative school effectiveness. Yet there are concerns that parents may be relying on socio-demographic characteristics of schools—through surrogate information about the urban spaces that the schools occupy—in order to choose peer groups, if not programs, for their children. In this paper we explore residential segregation by examining socio-demographics of catchment areas for public high schools in a specific middle-class urban area. Our data suggests distinct residential segregation between catchment areas for each public school within our dataset, particularly for the schools deemed to be popular and rejected, that may pose risks for broader equity concerns.

Authors

• Emma E. Rowe, Deakin University

• Christopher A. Lubienski, Indiana University