Parental choice of schools results in racial isolation or effective integration, depending on how choice is used and regulated. The role of choice in desegregation plans is compared. The Buffalo plan is hailed as most successful in that it desegregated the schools, distributed costs and benefits fairly, and strengthened education. (VM)

Compares the effectiveness of magnet schools in increasing interracial contact in two contexts: (1) districts using magnet schools as the alternative to forced busing; and (2) districts using magnet schools as a component of a mandatory desegregation plan. (Author/BE)

The desegregation effectiveness of voluntary plans with magnet schools was compared to that of mandatory reassignment plans with magnet schools using a sample of 20 school districts. Results show that a voluntary magnet plan will provide more long-term interracial exposure than a mandatory plan with magnet components. (SLD)

The existing research on magnet school attractiveness and educational benefits shows that school location is by far the major issue of importance to parents. In addition, racial composition and curriculum are important considerations in school choice. (GC)

This paper outlines an alternative desegregation plan that would replace the one implemented in the East Baton Rouge Parish (Louisiana) School District in 1981. Known as the Incentives Desegregation Plan, the alternative plan was designed to produce interracial contact comparable to the earlier plan, without incurring the attendant costs of…

Compares the public-choice model for school desegregation, which involves parents choosing magnet schools, to the command-and-control model, which involves mandatory reassignment plans, in order to evaluate the desegregation effectiveness of each plan. The public-choice model works for school desegregation. Mandatory reassignment produces more…

This report assesses the relative effectiveness of primarily voluntary and primarily mandatory desegregation plans in a sub-sample of 20 school districts, 9 of which are magnet-voluntary plans and 11 of which are magnet-mandatory plans. The major conclusions of this report are the following: (1) voluntary desegregation plans work; (2) dismantling…

Examines whether controlled choice is a superior desegregation tool for urban schools. A study of 20 school districts with minority populations above 30% revealed controlled choice to be as unpopular as mandatory reassignments, to produce greater white flight than magnet-voluntary plans, and to offer less interracial exposure than do voluntary…

It was in 1968, when Martin Luther King had been assassinated, and American cities were erupting in flames because of King's violent death and the decades-long smoldering resentments from racism, that the nation's first "magnet" school opened in Tacoma, Washington. The following year, 1969, the country's second magnet school opened--this…

This study compares the long-term desegregation effectiveness of voluntary plans with magnet schools to mandatory reassignment plans with magnet schools. The introduction includes an extensive discussion of the problems of choosing dependent variables for use in desegregation studies. The potential study population was chosen based on the…

Analyzes the history and outcomes of parent choice and magnet schools in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Finds that parent choice has resulted in greater interracial exposure than the prior mandatory reassignment plan, and that student achievement has increased. (FMW)

This book addresses issues in the field of school desegregation and public policy and compares the desegregation effectiveness of voluntary plans with magnet schools to mandatory reassignment plans with magnet schools. Issues addressed include: (1) how school desegregation plans have evolved over time; (2) how one measures the desegregation…