This article reviews the literature evaluating the impact of school choice programs on racial integration. Evidence on the impacts of magnet schools, voluntary busing programs, open enrollment practices, charter schools, and voucher programs is reviewed. The literature is mixed on this question, finding that the impacts of choice on racial…

A careful review of the literature and an examination of desegregation programs in Los Angeles, show that the claim that voluntary programs produce almost no desegregation, and certainly less than mandatory programs, is open to question. Most comparisons between voluntary and mandatory programs have been between cities and have not taken into…