Racial Stratification and School Segregation in the Suburbs: Evidence From Los Angeles County

• In Event: Residential, School, and Classroom Racial Stratification and Its Impacts on Educational Outcomes

Abstract

Since the mid-twentieth century, American suburbs have dramatically diversified. How do advantaged suburban families respond? With residential mobility declining and educational choice increasing, white and Asian suburban families may emulate their core-city counterparts, leveraging school enrollment to buffer their children from disadvantaged minorities living nearby. I propose that strong racial preferences spur white and Asian suburban families living amongst Latino and Black children to enact them even in unfavorable circumstances: by sending their children long distances to non-assigned schools. Logistic regressions employing Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey data linked to administrative data reveal Latino and Black pupils to deter white and Asian suburbanites more than core-city residents. Intra-suburban school sorting thus emerges as a new driver of educational segregation.

Author

• Jared Nathan Schachner, University of Chicago