Distance to Schools and Equal Access in School Choice Systems

Mariana Laverde

No 1046, Boston College Working Papers in Economics from Boston College Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper studies the impact of geography on cross-racial access to schools under school choice systems. Using data from Boston Public Schools, I show that white prekindergarteners are assigned to schools that are rated higher using measures of test-score levels, test-score growth, and race-balanced growth, than Black students; and that cross-race school-rating gaps under choice are no lower than would be generated by a neighborhood assignment rule. I find that longer commutes to high-rated schools reduce access for Black students. Consistent with a more favorable geography; Hispanic students, on the other hand, sort toward high-growth and race-balanced growth schools under choice.

Keywords: School choice; distance to schools; racial opportunity gaps (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D47 I20 I24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-01-03, Revised 2024-06-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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