Choice, Preferences, and Constraints

Abstract

Does ‘‘choosing a home’’ still matter for ‘‘choosing a school,’’ despite implementation of school choice policies designed to weaken this link? Prior research shows how the presence of such policies does little to solve the problems of stratification and segregation associated with residentially based enrollment systems, since families differ along racial/ethnic and socioeconomic lines in their access to, and how they participate in, the school choice process. We examine how families’ nearby school supply shapes and constrains their choices. Drawing on a unique dataset consisting of parents’ ranked preferences from among one urban district’s full menu of public schools, we find that Hispanic, white, and black parents share a strong preference for academic performance, but differences in their choices can be traced to variation in nearby supply. Our findings illustrate how the vastly different sets of schools from which parents can choose reproduce race-based patterns of stratification.

Socioeconomic Status, Race, and Public Support for School Integration

“…Similarly, results from the 2017 Phi Delta Kappan poll indicate that 70% of respondents would prefer their child to attend a racially diverse school and approximately 50% of respondents thought that racial diversity would improve the learning environment. These results come with a few caveats: (1) support for racial integration policies is higher in districts with experiences with desegregation (Orfield, 1995;Orfield & Frankenberg, 2013) and (2) parents prefer diversity as long as their children are in the racial/ ethnic majority (Denice & Gross, 2016;Glazerman & Dotter, 2017;Hastings et al, 2006). Where we see support for racial integration typically dwindle, often substantially, is in the results of polls that inquire about specific policies and trade-offs required to achieve a meaningful level of diversity.…”

“…In the next stage of the exercise we provided respondents with information about the likely impact of each of the two options on five factors important to families, including classmate characteristics, proximity to school, student learning, school test scores, and certainty of schooling assignments. Our choice of these factors was informed by the literature on parental schooling preferences, particularly the set of studies that work to identify the factors most salient to parents as they set out to select a school for their child (e.g., Denice & Gross 2016;Glazerman & Dotter 2017;Lincove et al, 2018;Schneider & Buckley, 2002. Table 1 summarizes the information we present to respondents on each of the five factors that would be affected by the two policies for assigning students to schools.…”

The Rise of Homeschooling Regulation in the Era of School Choice: Legislative and Judicial Trends, 1972–2009

“…Finally, research suggests that racial dynamics have affected parental preferences. White families generally tend to avoid majority minority public schools in an effort to maintain class and race privilege (Billingham and Hunt 2016;Denice and Gross 2016). In contrast, African American families tend to select schools in search of equitable educational opportunities as well as school socioeconomic composition (Saporito and Lareau 1999).…”

Student Transportation in Choice-Rich Districts: Implementation Challenges and Responses

“…Districts spent over $24 billion on student transportation in the 2014-15 school year, accounting for about 8 percent of all public education expenditures (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES] 2019). Student transportation policies also have implications for students' access to the full range of educational opportunities ostensibly available to them, particularly in choice-rich environments (Teske, Fitzpatrick, and O'Brien 2009;Jochim et al 2014;Denice and Gross 2016;Blagg et al 2017;Edwards 2021). Yet, policies governing the provision of student transportation vary widely across states and localities, and there is significant heterogeneity within the charter sector in terms of transportation requirements and offerings (Blagg et al 2017;McShane and Shaw 2020).…”

“…There is growing evidence about the significance of student transportation for families' school choices and for school choice systems to function equitably (Teske, Fitzpatrick, and O'Brien 2009;Jochim et al 2014;Denice and Gross 2016;Blagg et al 2017;Hamlin 2018;Sattin-Bajaj 2018;Edwards 2021;Trajkovski, Zabel, and Schwartz 2021). Therefore, policy makers and administrators working in places with expansive school choice offerings would benefit from knowing more about what it means to implement student transportation policy, the obstacles associated with providing efficient and equitable transportation services, and how education officials are responding to the challenges of managing student transportation in choice-rich cities.…”