"Equality of Educational Opportunity," also known as the Coleman Report, sought answers to two burning questions: (1) How extensive is racial segregation within U.S. schools?; and (2) How adversely does that segregation affect educational opportunities for black students? In answering the first question, James S. Coleman and his…

Charter schools embody the theoretical potential to promote integration since they can draw students from across district boundaries that often reflect segregated residential patterns. While a number of studies have examined overall racial composition of charter schools, virtually no attention has been paid to how charter school enrollment…

In this paper, the authors estimate the effect of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP, or the Milwaukee voucher program) on integration in public and private schools. Their first question is straightforward: Do the student bodies at private schools participating in MPCP have a racial composition that more closely or less closely resembles…

In June 2007, the Supreme Court limited the tools that school districts could use to voluntarily integrate schools. In the aftermath of the decision, educators around the country have sought models of successful plans that would also be legal. One such model may be Berkeley Unified School District's (BUSD) plan. Earlier this year, the California…

This paper provides new evidence on the mechanisms by which school desegregation in large urban districts led to public enrollment declines for whites and increases for blacks. The authors demonstrate that white enrollment declines in southern central districts were primarily the product of out-migration while enrollment declines in districts…

"From the Courtroom to the Classroom" examines recent developments pertaining to school desegregation in the United States. As the editors note, it comes at a time marked by a "general downplaying of race and ethnicity as criteria for the allocation of public resources, as well as a weakening of the political forces that support…

Examines the receptiveness of whites to school and neighborhood integration and explores the economic potential for residential integration. The receptiveness of whites to having black neighbors or having their children attend schools with blacks has increased. The attitudinal receptivity and economic potential exist for extensive residential…

Testifying on housing patterns in St. Louis (Missouri), this expert indicates that St. Louis has been, and continues to be, a highly racially segregated metropolitan area, where the housing effects of past discrimination have not disappeared. Schools remain an important factor in the voluntary choice of residential area. (SLD)

To further test Charles Tiebout's suggestion that households reveal their preferences for public goods through their decisions to relocate, questionnaires were sent to the 2,290 people who bought homes in Charlotte (North Carolina) during 1977 and who were still living in the same house during the summer of 1981. Each of the 1,176 respondents…

This is the final report of a research project designed to develop a model for leadership in school desegregation. The model was to be based on a collaborative process involving city and school decision makers in Berkeley, California. As part of background information, the racial composition of the Berkeley Unified School District is described.…

Factors related to race, central city decline, and demographic structure are assessed as determinants of White city-to-suburb movement in 39 large metropolitan areas. Findings show that most factors affect central city flight more through the choice of destination than through the decision to move. (Author/MC)

This description of the accomplishments and shortcomings of one school desegregation plan provides insights into much broader dialogue on the role of race in America. St. Louis (Missouri) and its suburbs demographically resemble many midsized contemporary metropolitan areas in the United States. What makes St. Louis unique is an urban-suburban…

Scholars have debated whether students' enrollment in private schools changes levels of racial segregation across urban school districts. The authors examine this issue by comparing the actual racial composition of schools with the racial composition of school-aged children living in the corresponding attendance areas. They do so by linking maps…

The major obstacles to metropolitan school desegregation appear to be political rather than economic or educational. There are readily apparent economic and educational advantages to be obtained through interdistrict cooperation. In addition to increasing racial and ethnic contact and reducing minority isolation, other advantages involve…

A research project was conducted based on the hypothesis that metropolitan school desegregation, by removing white enclaves in the schools, has an effect on the way housing choices are made and results in lower levels of housing segregation. By comparing seven pairs of cities that are otherwise similar (in terms of size, region, minority…