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The Segregative Effects of Charter Schools

Author

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  • Angela Crema

Abstract

I study the effects of charters on student racial segregation, identifying a novel mechanism: the assignment of White and non-White students to regular classrooms within their school-grade. Exploiting almost 100 entries of elementary charters in North Carolina from 1997 to 2015, I show that the announcement of an opening significantly increases classroom segregation within public schools nearby, relative to schools farther away, especially within non-majority-White schools and for charter openings that enroll a relatively large share of White students. Accounting for classrooms is unlikely to reverse the literature's conclusion that the charter effects on student segregation are modest in magnitude.

Suggested Citation

  • Angela Crema, 2026. "The Segregative Effects of Charter Schools," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 18(2), pages 242-274, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejpol:v:18:y:2026:i:2:p:242-74
    DOI: 10.1257/pol.20230539
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

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