Reurbanization and the Segregation of Local Charter Schools

• In Event: Intersections Between School Choice, Social Class, Language, and Race

Abstract

Gentrification, a process of neighborhood change, is being identified in a broad range of urban contexts in the US. At the same time, school choice policies have proliferated in many of the communities that continue to gentrify. These two simultaneous processes raise questions about how demographic changes shape enrollment patterns in gentrifying neighborhoods. This research examines the relationship between gentrification and charter schooling in New York City’s most gentrifying areas, and the impact on racial diversity. It draws on data from the Decennial Census, the American Community Survey, and the National Center for Educational Statistics. While several diverse charter schools exist in gentrified neighborhoods, school enrollment patterns in the city’s most rapidly gentrifying areas remain racially segregated overall.

Authors

• Kfir Mordechay, Pepperdine University

• Jenn Ayscue, North Carolina State University