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Are Whites Still Fleeing? Racial Patterns and Enrollment Shifts in Urban Public Schools, 1987-1996

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  • Charles T. Clotfelter

    (Duke University)

Abstract

The effect of interracial contact in public schools on the enrollment of whites has been an important concern in assessments of desegregation since the 1970s. It has been feared that “white flight”-meaning exit from or avoidance of racially mixed public schools-could undermine the racial contact that desegregation policy seeks to enhance. This study examines this question using recent data. It also expands coverage from large urban districts to entire metropolitan areas, paying attention to the spatial context within which enrollment decisions are made. To do so, it examines data for 1987 and 1996 on racial composition and enrollment in all schools and school districts in 238 metropolitan areas. The study finds that white losses appear to be spurred both by interracial contact in districts where their children attend school and by the opportunities available in metropolitan areas for reducing that contact. These findings apply with remarkable consistency to large and small districts in both large and small metropolitan areas. Implications for metropolitan segregation are examined. © 2001 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles T. Clotfelter, 2001. "Are Whites Still Fleeing? Racial Patterns and Enrollment Shifts in Urban Public Schools, 1987-1996," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(2), pages 199-221.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:20:y:2001:i:2:p:199-221
    DOI: 10.1002/pam.2022
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Charles T. Clotfelter, 1978. "Alternative Measures of School Desegregation: A Methodological Note," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 54(3), pages 373-380.
    2. David M. Cutler & Edward L. Glaeser & Jacob L. Vigdor, 1999. "The Rise and Decline of the American Ghetto," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(3), pages 455-506, June.
    3. Clotfelter, Charles T., 1979. "Urban school desegregation and declines in white enrollment: A reexamination," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 352-370, July.
    4. Charles T. Clotfelter, 1999. "Public School Segregation in Metropolitan Areas," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 75(4), pages 487-504.
    5. Richard A. Wright & Mark Ellis & Michael Reibel, 1997. "The Linkage between Immigration and Internal Migration in Large Metropolitan Areas in the United States," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 73(2), pages 234-254, April.
    6. Clotfelter, Charles T., 1998. "Public School Segregation in Metropolitan Areas," Working Papers 98-12, Duke University, Department of Economics.
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    Cited by:

    1. Simon Burgess & Deborah Wilson & Ruth Lupton, 2005. "Parallel Lives? Ethnic Segregation in Schools and Neighbourhoods," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 42(7), pages 1027-1056, June.
    2. Janice Fanning Madden, 2003. "The Changing Spatial Concentration of Income and Poverty among Suburbs of Large US Metropolitan Areas," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 40(3), pages 481-503, March.
    3. Easterly William, 2009. "Empirics of Strategic Interdependence: The Case of the Racial Tipping Point," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-35, June.
    4. Leonid V. Azarnert, 2014. "Integrated public education, fertility and human capital," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 166-180, April.
    5. Dieter Grass & Gernot Tragler, 2010. "Optimal dynamic management of the population mix," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 18(4), pages 539-551, December.
    6. Leonid V. Azarnert, 2008. "Involuntary Integration in Public Education, Fertility and Human Capital," Working Papers 2008-07, Bar-Ilan University, Department of Economics.
    7. Valerie Ledwith, 2009. "Open Enrolment and Student Sorting in Public Schools: Evidence from Los Angeles County," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 41(5), pages 1109-1128, May.
    8. Hopson, Laura M. & Lee, Eunju & Tang, Ning, 2014. "A multi-level analysis of school racial composition and ecological correlates of academic success," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 126-134.
    9. Li, Mingliang, 2009. "Is there "white flight" into private schools? New evidence from High School and Beyond," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 382-392, June.
    10. William Clark & Regan Maas, 2012. "Schools, Neighborhoods and Selection: Outcomes Across Metropolitan Los Angeles," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 31(3), pages 339-360, June.
    11. Ron Johnston & Deborah Wilson & Simon Burgess, 2005. "England's Multiethnic Educational System? A Classification of Secondary Schools," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(1), pages 45-62, January.
    12. Caulkins, Jonathan P. & Feichtinger, Gustav & Johnson, Michael & Tragler, Gernot & Yegorov, Yuri, 2005. "Skiba thresholds in a model of controlled migration," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 57(4), pages 490-508, August.

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