The Impact of Targeted School Vouchers on Racial Stratification in Louisiana Schools

Abstract

The question of how school choice programs affect the racial stratification of schools is highly salient in the field of education policy. We use a student-level panel data set to analyze the impacts of the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) on racial stratification in public and private schools. This targeted school voucher program provides funding for low-income, mostly minority students in the lowest-graded public schools to enroll in participating private schools. Our analysis indicates that the vast majority (82%) of LSP transfers have reduced racial stratification in the voucher students' former public schools. LSP transfers have marginally increased stratification in the participating private schools, however, where just 45% of transfers reduce racial stratification. In those school districts under federal desegregation orders, voucher transfers result in a large reduction in traditional public schools' racial stratification levels and have no discernible impact on private schools. The results of this analysis provide reliable empirical evidence on whether or not parental choice harms desegregation efforts in Louisiana.

How Principals Use a New Accountability System to Promote Change in Teacher Practices: Evidence From Italy

“…ESSA is based more on a development-oriented approach instead of punishment, and it promotes a closer relationship between accountability, leadership and school improvement. In place of NCLB’s “adequate yearly progress” provisions, each state must implement a state-designed accountability system that includes long-term goals and annual indicators based on those goals, with a particular focus on low-income and minority children, and low-performing schools (Egalite, Mills, & Wolf, 2017).…”

Parental preferences in the choice for a specialty school

“…A study of the student migration patterns from public to private schools analyze the impacts of the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP). They show that "the vast majority (82%) of LSP transfers have reduced racial stratification in the voucher students' former public schools" (Egalite, Mills, & Wolf, 2017).…”

Disparities and Discrimination in Student Discipline by Race and Family Income

“…Our findings indicate that a substantially larger share of discipline disparities arises within schools than the prior literature suggests. And third, by focusing on gaps in the southern state of Louisiana, we illuminate the race and class dynamics of student discipline in a state with large populations of black and poor students and a long history of problems where race, class, and schools collide (Egalite, Mills, & Wolf, 2017).…”