2011 - School Desegregation and White Flight Revisited: A Spatial Analysis from a Metropolitan Perspective

Attribution: Zhang, Haifeng
Researchers: Haifeng Zhang
University Affiliation: University of Louisville
Email: c.zhang@louisville.edu
Research Question:
Do whites still flee from central city to urban schools? If cross district white flight exists is it related to school desegregation or simply the result of migration to the suburbs? Do whites flee to private schools in the wake of school desegregation policies?
Published: 1
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: Urban Geography
Journal Entry: Vol. 32, N.8, Pp 1208-1226
Year: 2011
Findings:
  1. Jefferson County lost 20% white enrollment (net loss nearly 13,000) from 1987-2006 while its suburban counterparts, especially Oldham and Spencer where most of the new suburban growth had occurred, experienced a substantial increase in white enrollment.
  2. A one percentage increase in student poverty corresponded to a nearly .5 percentage decrease in the proportion whites enrolled in public schools.
  3. Minority percentages in neighborhoods where the public schools were located showed a significant negative correlation, suggesting a white aversion to minority presence.
  4. There was a negative relationship between urban location and white enrollment.
  5. The effect of median household income, educational attainment (of the parents) and desegregation status were positive and significant on the white private school enrollment rate.
Keywords: DesegregationPrivate SchoolsWhite FlightRegions: MidwestMethodologies: QuantitativeResearch Designs: Secondary Survey DataAnalysis Methods: Regression Sampling Frame:Schools in Louisville, KY metropolis
Sampling Types: PopulationAnalysis Units: SchoolData Types: Quantitative
Data Description:
  • Data used in this study obtained from Public-school enrollment data (1987-2006) acquired from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) Common Core of Data (CCD), white enrollment in private school data taken from the 2000 U.S. decennial census.
  • Phase I: longitudinal white enrollment (1987-2006) was digressed by school location codes in order to identify evidence of white flight from JCPS to adjacent districts or private schools.
  • Phase II: regression performed to test if desegregation was statistically related to cross-district white flight from JCPS to neighboring school districts.
  • Phase III: Regression tested the effects of desegregation on the increasing level of private schooling within JCPS.
Theoretical Framework:
Relevance:
Archives: K-12 Integration, Desegregation, and Segregation Abstracts