School choice and segregation: Evidence from New Orleans
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos claims that school choice programs lead to more integrated schools. But does the evidence back her up? In general, research on both charter- and voucher-based school choice has found that these programs are more likely to lead to small increases in segregation than to improve integration. These results are not entirely surprising, given research on parents’ preferences showing that families tend to choose schools with students from similar backgrounds.
