School Enrollment Rights as Property Rights in Austin

• In Event: Inequitable Resources, Inequitable Access: Examining the Racialized U.S. Caste System Within Schools

Abstract

Faced with declining enrollment, budget cuts, and the possibility of school closures, Austin ISD went through School Changes process in 2019 to evaluate where cuts could be made. The district used a digital tool, the Thought Exchange, to gather feedback from parents on the School Change process. Individuals were able to leave comments, as well as rate the comments of others with 1-5 stars. Shortly before the tool was launched the district released 3 versions of proposed district maps to evaluate programming and facilities within contiguous regions. Map B did not follow existing boundary lines and vertical teams and went west to east, grouping wealthy west neighborhoods with neighborhoods that had less concentrated privilege. Though the district did not explicitly indicate that boundary changes were a possibility, most of the comments in the Thought Exchange focused on perceived boundary changes based on Map B.

In this study, we use a critical discourse analysis of 2023 comments collected by the district through a digital tool to evaluate: How do parents conceptualize enrollment rights to high-opportunity schools? Who has rights and who is excluded? We used the command-line software tool cURL to download all of the comments and ratings from the website into a spreadsheet. In this study, we coded the comments using deductive and inductive strategies (Miles et al., 2014). In the first round, we used the comments to elucidate themes that were important to parents, including the value of community, property value, equity, integration, and the distance to the zoned school. Then, we reanalyzed our codes to draw connections between parent comments and previous literature.

Commenters shed light on how actors within the real estate market, including buyers, sellers, and real estate agents conceptualized school boundaries and enrollment rights as a type of property that was conveyed with the purchase of a home. Analysis of the discourse reveals that many parents believe that the risk of school boundary changes encroached on their rights as property owners. Though school districts do technically have the legal right to change school boundaries, parents assert that they do not or should not exercise this right over the rights of the property owners and the substantial investments they have made. School boundaries are conceptualized as belonging to the property owners; those who were willing and had the necessary amounts of capital to buy property within that neighborhood.

A related subtheme was the idea that boundaries should not be changed because property values will decrease, and families will lose out on their investments. Parents were acutely aware that their property values could decrease, and they could ultimately lose money on their investment if school boundaries changed. They asserted that the personal interests of property owners should be considered above other public interests.

This study has important implications both for education researchers and policymakers. District leaders, who wish to work towards more equitable enrollment solutions, should understand parents’ beliefs about school enrollment rights to effectively plan for transformational change.

Author

• Valerie Sterne, University of Texas at Austin