Education Markets in a City With Changing Racial Demographics: Exit, Choice, Disloyalty

• In Event: Race, Policy, Justice, and School Choice

Abstract

White residents have returned to center cities during the last three decades, a reversal of the white flight of previous generations. Meanwhile, school choice policies have changed enrollment norms. Despite the potential of leveraging these trends to diversify schools, racial segregation remains common. Scholars need to examine how incoming residents navigate school choice to understand why segregation persists. We examine parents in Washington DC and use an exit, voice, loyalty framework to understand their processes and values in a city with changing racial demographics and school choice. We find that the ecosystem prompts choice to replace voice and disloyalty is the norm. These findings suggest that segregation will persist unless policymakers find ways to alter the dynamics of this ecosystem.

Authors

• Bryan Mann, University of Kansas

• Annah Rogers, University of Alabama