RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Setting Priorities in School Choice
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 0124-13347R2
DO 10.3368/jhr.0124-13347R2
A1 Valant, Jon
A1 Walker, Brigham
YR 2025
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2025/10/02/jhr.0124-13347R2.abstract
AB Even in cities with expansive school choice reforms, historically disadvantaged groups of students enroll in substantially lower-performing schools than their peers. We examine this phenomenon in New Orleans, focusing on the applications that families submit and the placements that result. We find large gaps in the types of schools that families request. Additionally, when Black and White (and poor and nonpoor) families request the same first-choice school for kindergarten, White and nonpoor families are more likely to receive those placements. This results from student priorities in the system’s placement algorithm. We examine these priorities and simulate placements under different policies.