School Choice and Segregation: Evidence from the Oakland Unified School District

Jesse Rothstein, Ini Umosen and Christopher R. Walters

No 34957, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We study the prospects for changes in school priorities to reduce income segregation in a context of centralized school assignment, accounting for behavioral responses to school offers. Promoting integration is a central objective for large urban school districts in the US, and reforms to school assignment priorities are a prominent means of pursuing this goal. Such efforts may be constrained by students' decisions to exit the public school system in response to less-preferred school offers. Using data on kindergarten applicants to the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), we show that offers of spots at first-choice schools boost the likelihood that applicants remain in OUSD. Nevertheless, simulations show that policy reforms giving priority for low-income students at high-income schools can substantially reduce segregation with minimal impacts on retention in the district.

JEL-codes: I21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-03
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