We examine high concentrations of poverty in public schools by comparing economic segregation in schools and in their corresponding attendance boundaries. To do this, we assign poverty rates from the 2000 census to maps of school attendance boundaries for 21 of the largest school districts and link this with data enumerating the number of poor children enrolled in each school. Results show that percentages of poor children in neighborhood schools is greater than in their corresponding catchment areas and this difference is greater when the majority of children living in a neighborhood are racial minorities. These patterns reflect the withdrawal of wealthier children from public schools and into private, charter and magnet schools. The result is that poor and minority children are much more concentrated in high-poverty public schools than they would be if all children attended their local schools.
Social Forces is a journal of social research highlighting sociological inquiry but also exploring realms shared with social psychology, anthropology, political science, history, and economics. The journal's intended academic readers include sociologists, social psychologists, criminologists, economists, political scientists, anthropologists, and students of urban studies, race/ethnic relations, and religious studies.
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. OUP is the world's largest university press with the widest global presence. It currently publishes more than 6,000 new publications a year, has offices in around fifty countries, and employs more than 5,500 people worldwide. It has become familiar to millions through a diverse publishing program that includes scholarly works in all academic disciplines, bibles, music, school and college textbooks, business books, dictionaries and reference books, and academic journals.
This item is part of JSTOR collection
For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions
Social Forces
Request Permissions
