IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/jpamgt/v20y2001i2p199-221.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • 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
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1002/pam.2022
    File Function: Link to full text; subscription required
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/pam.2022?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    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., 1998. "Public School Segregation in Metropolitan Areas," Working Papers 98-12, Duke University, Department of Economics.
    4. 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.
    5. Charles T. Clotfelter, 1999. "Public School Segregation in Metropolitan Areas," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 75(4), pages 487-504.
    6. Charles T. Clotfelter, 1978. "Alternative Measures of School Desegregation: A Methodological Note," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 54(3), pages 373-380.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    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. Demid Getik & Anna Sjogren & Anton Sundberg, 2024. "Migration Inflow and School Performance of Incumbents," Department of Economics Working Papers 2024_01, Durham University, Department of Economics.
    13. 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.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Charles T. Clotfelter, 1999. "Are Whites Still "Fleeing"? Racial Patterns and Enrollment Shifts in Urban Public Schools, 1987-1996," NBER Working Papers 7290, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Simon Burgess & Brendon McConnell & Carol Propper & Deborah Wilson, 2004. "Sorting and Choice in English Secondary Schools," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 04/111, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    3. Oscar Volij & David Frankel, 2004. "Measuring Segregation," Econometric Society 2004 North American Summer Meetings 210, Econometric Society.
    4. 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.
    5. Charles T. Clotfelter, 2000. "Interracial Contact in High School Extracurricular Activities," NBER Working Papers 7999, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. David Frankel & Oscar Volij, 2005. "Scale-Invariant Measures of Segregation," Economic theory and game theory 018, Oscar Volij.
    7. Simon Burgess & Ruth Lupton & Deborah Wilson, 2004. "Parallel lives? Ethnic segregation in the playground and the neighbourhood," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 04/094, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    8. repec:clu:wpaper:0607-14 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Mocetti, Sauro & Porello, Carmine, 2010. "How does immigration affect native internal mobility? New evidence from Italy," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 427-439, November.
    10. Robert Bifulco & Helen F. Ladd & Stephen Ross, 2007. "Public School Choice and Integration: Evidence from Durham, North Carolina," Working papers 2007-41, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised Jun 2008.
    11. Miguel Urquiola & Eric Verhoogen, 2009. "Class-Size Caps, Sorting, and the Regression-Discontinuity Design," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(1), pages 179-215, March.
    12. Amine Ouazad & Romain Rancière, 2016. "Credit Standards and Segregation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(5), pages 880-896, December.
    13. Jonathan Guryan, 2004. "Desegregation and Black Dropout Rates," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 919-943, September.
    14. Stephen Gibbons & Shqiponja Telhaj, 2007. "Are Schools Drifting Apart? Intake Stratification in English Secondary Schools," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(7), pages 1281-1305, June.
    15. Carlos Gradín & Coral del Río & Olga Alonso-Villar, 2011. "Occupational segregation by race and ethnicity in the US: Differences across states," Working Papers 190, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    16. David Card & Alexandre Mas & Jesse Rothstein, 2008. "Tipping and the Dynamics of Segregation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(1), pages 177-218.
    17. MacLeod, W. Bentley & Urquiola, Miguel, 2012. "Competition and Educational Productivity: Incentives Writ Large," IZA Discussion Papers 7063, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Chad R. Farrell, 2008. "Bifurcation, Fragmentation or Integration? The Racial and Geographical Structure of US Metropolitan Segregation, 1990—2000," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 45(3), pages 467-499, March.
    19. W. Bentley MacLeod & Miguel Urquiola, 2009. "Anti-Lemons: School Reputation and Educational Quality," NBER Working Papers 15112, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Sean Reardon & John Yun & Tamela Eitle, 2000. "The changing structure of school segregation: Measurement and evidence of multiracial metropolitan-area school segregation, 1989–1995," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 37(3), pages 351-364, August.
    21. Glitz, Albrecht, 2014. "Ethnic segregation in Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 28-40.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:20:y:2001:i:2:p:199-221. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/34787/home .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.