How the Availability of School Choice Shapes School and Neighborhood Demographic Change

• In Event: 21020 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 16: Racial Inequities and School Choice: Exploring the Dynamics of Segregation, Perception, and Community

Abstract

The high levels of racial segregation in U.S. schools and neighborhoods are a direct result of policies that link these two contexts together with residence-based school assignment, yet school choice has complicated this landscape. Using longitudinal data on the racial composition of nearly 3,000 schools and their neighborhoods, I examine how the availability of nearby charter and private schools shapes White flight between 2000 and 2010. I find that greater availability of school alternatives weakens the relationship between neighborhood and school change, such that neighborhood change is less predictive of school change in neighborhoods with many charter or private schools. I also find that greater access to charter schools is negatively associated with White flight, such that neighborhoods with more charter schools lose fewer White children both in schools and neighborhoods. However, I also find that private schools are associated with a greater loss of White students from public schools.

Author

• Elly Field, Brown University