Does school choice really lead to more integrated schools?
Years of teacher-union propaganda have conditioned the public to think that private schools are more segregated than public schools. However, the best available studies show that the opposite is true. Private school classrooms are more integrated than public school classrooms, and school choice programs put kids into more integrated schools. Our nation’s public schools are heavily segregated. According to a Harvard University study, “more than 70 percent of the nation’s black students now attend predominately minority (public) schools.” Public schools are so segregated primarily because of residential segregation. Attendance at public schools is determined by where people live, which guarantees that segregation in housing patterns will always be reproduced in public schools. Desegregation efforts have largely failed because they are geographically limited; white families who move to the suburbs can’t legally be forced to bus their children across municipal lines.
Years of teacher-union propaganda have conditioned the public to think that private schools are more segregated than public schools. However, the best available studies show that the opposite is true. Private school classrooms are more integrated than public school classrooms, and school choice programs put kids into more integrated schools. Our nation’s public schools are heavily segregated. According to a Harvard University study, “more than 70 percent of the nation’s black students now attend predominately minority (public) schools.” Public schools are so segregated primarily because of residential segregation. Attendance at public schools is determined by where people live, which guarantees that segregation in housing patterns will always be reproduced in public schools. Desegregation efforts have largely failed because they are geographically limited; white families who move to the suburbs can’t legally be forced to bus their children across municipal lines. Private schools, by co
A. Contrary to the claims of opponents, school choice leads to more integrated schools. Research shows that children using school choice attend more integrated schools than their public school counterparts. Our nation’s public schools are heavily segregated. According to a Harvard University study, “more than 70 percent of the nation’s black students now attend predominately minority public schools.” Public schools are so segregated primarily because of residential segregation. Attendance at public schools are determined by where people live, which guarantees that segregation in housing patterns will always be reproduced in public schools. Private schools, on the other hand, can draw students from anywhere. *Source: The ABC’s of School Choice 2006-2007 Edition, the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation.
Contrary to the claims of opponents, school choice leads to more integrated schools. Research shows that private schools are less segregated than public schools, and that children using school choice attend more integrated classrooms than their public school counterparts. This is true because under a voucher plan, parents are not limited by school district boundaries.
