Understanding School Choice

Abstract

The author analyzes the revealed school preferences of parents in the Washington, D.C., and asks, “What is the main determinant of charter school choice and how does it create racial, economic, and linguistic segregation?” The author first establishes a theory of choice, which incorporates past research and adds an additional variable to our understanding of school selection—school location. Through a multivariable regression, the author tests the new proximity variable against other possible determinants and finds that parental preference for neighborhood schools significantly correlates with racial segregation. The results indicate that school-choice markets, as they currently exist, reinforce the de facto segregation patterns found in urban neighborhoods.

Education privatization in the United States: Increasing saturation and segregation

“…At the district level, although a 2009 Chicago study noted decreased segregation for charter attendance (Zimmer et al, 2009), updated research in Chicago shows that as privatization increased, African Americans were increasingly segregated into low-income and uni-racial schools through both charter entry and public-school closure (Jankov & Caref, 2017). This trend was also observed in Washington D.C. by Jacobs (2011Jacobs ( , 2013 when proximity variables were measured against other possible determinants finding that parental preference for neighborhood schools significantly correlates with racial segregation. The results indicate that school-choice markets, as they currently exist, can reinforce de facto segregation patterns found in urban neighborhoods (Jacobs, 2013).…”

“…Furthermore, charter schools are often accused of "cream-skimming," meaning they enroll students who are unlike peers remaining in the public setting in ways sometimes unaccounted for analytically (Frankenberg, Siegel-Hawley, & Wang, 2011;Miron, Urschel, Mathis & Tornquist, 2010). Some evidence of the "cream-skimming" practice has emerged from research (West, Ingram, & Hind, 2006;Jacobs, 2011) but is contested in other studies (Hoxby, Murarka, & Kang, 2009;Zimmer & Guarino, 2013). Naturally, this complicates treatment effect claims for charter school advocates (Ozek, 2009).…”

The complex determinants of school intake characteristics and segregation, England 1989 to 2014

“…In fact parental preference for local neighbourhood schools is often greater among disadvantaged and minority families, which exacerbates the kinds of segregation found in urban areas (Jacobs 2013). Any system of allocating school places, especially contested places in over-subscribed schools, which uses catchments, distance or ease of travel will tend to reinforce patterns of pre-existing residential segregation (Frankenberg 2013).…”

Charter School Barriers: Do Enrollment Requirements Limit Student Access to Charter Schools?

“…If the charter school becomes oversubscribed or it has more students interested in attending than it has the ability to serve, then a lottery system is established to fill openings when they arise (Clark-Tuttle, Gleason, & Clark, 2012). Most states with laws allowing for the creation of charter schools require the use of lottery systems to ensure all interested students have the same opportunity of being selected once an opening occurs (Jacobs, 2011).…”

“…Jacobs (2011) stated that, "Enrollment [in a charter school] is not associated with any type of tuition of extraneous fees" due to the fact that charter schools are public schools (p. 466). However, charter schools do levy fees on students and the degree of these fees could prove prohibitive for some students and their families (Jacobs, 2011).…”