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What's in Your Portfolio? How Parents Rank Traditional Public, Private, and Charter Schools in Post-Katrina New Orleans’ Citywide System of School Choice

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  • Jane A. Lincove

    (School of Public Policy University of Maryland Baltimore County Baltimore, Maryland 21250 Author email: jlincove@umbc.edu)

  • Joshua M. Cowen

    (College of Education Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan 48824 Author email: jcowen@msu.edu)

  • Jason P. Imbrogno

    (Department of Economics and Finance University of North Alabama Florence, Alabama 35632 Author email: jimbrogno@una.edu)

Abstract

We examine the characteristics of schools preferred by parents in New Orleans, Louisiana, where a “portfolio” of school choices is available. This tests the conditions under which school choice induces healthy competition between public and private schools through the threat of student exit. Using unique data from parent applications to as many as eight different schools (including traditional public, charter, and private schools), we find that many parents include a mix of public and private schools among their preferences, often ranking public schools alongside or even above private schools on a unified application. Parents who list both public and private schools show a preference for the private sector, all else equal, and are willing to accept lower school performance scores for private schools than otherwise equivalent public options. These parents reveal a stronger preference for academic outcomes than other parents and place less value on other school characteristics such as sports, arts, or extended hours. Public schools are more likely to be ranked with private schools and to be ranked higher as their academic performance scores increase.

Suggested Citation

  • Jane A. Lincove & Joshua M. Cowen & Jason P. Imbrogno, 2018. "What's in Your Portfolio? How Parents Rank Traditional Public, Private, and Charter Schools in Post-Katrina New Orleans’ Citywide System of School Choice," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 13(2), pages 194-226, Spring.
  • Handle: RePEc:tpr:edfpol:v:13:y:2018:i:2:p:194-226
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    Cited by:

    1. Trajkovski, Samantha & Zabel, Jeffrey & Schwartz, Amy Ellen, 2021. "Do school buses make school choice work?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    2. Valant, Jon & Walker, Brigham, 2024. "Setting Priorities in School Choice Enrollment Systems: Who Benefits from Placement Algorithm Preferences?," IZA Discussion Papers 16776, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Hofflinger, Alvaro & Gelber, Denisse & Tellez Cañas, Santiago, 2020. "School choice and parents’ preferences for school attributes in Chile," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    4. Lauren Sartain & Lisa Barrow, 2022. "The Pathway to Enrolling in a High-Performance High School: Understanding Barriers to Access," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 17(3), pages 379-407, Summer.
    5. Du, Xinming, 2023. "Competing with clean air: Pollution disclosure and college desirability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).
    6. Lincove, Jane Arnold & Valant, Jon & Cowen, Joshua M., 2018. "You can't always get what you want: Capacity constraints in a choice-based school system," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 94-109.

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