Parental Preference Heterogeneity in School Choice
Observational StudyReview
Unregulated school choice lotteries can reinforce socioeconomic segregation if low-income students are crowded out of high-performing schools by higher-income applicants. Without explicit priority mechanisms, low-income families face lower probabilities of gaining admission to affluent schools.
Picture this
Think of a boarding pass system where low-income passengers applying to flights headed to high-resource destinations are moved into an earlier boarding group ahead of general applicants. This ensures that disadvantaged passengers get seats before capacity fills up.
What the evidence says
Free-lunch eligible students comprised 50.6% of applicants in randomized marginal priority groups at high-performing schools compared to only 33.6% in waitlisted groups, significantly increasing low-income admission rates and counteracting strategic hedging incentives.
- Who was studied
- N = 36,887 human students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, North Carolina.
- How
- Administrative policy design giving free-lunch eligible applicants Priority 2 status when applying to schools where less than 50% of enrolled students were free-lunch eligible.
What to do
Incorporate income-contingent priority tiers in school choice allocation algorithms to guarantee low-income access to low-poverty schools.
From the source
"In addition, the district gave a 'priority boost' to low-income students choosing to attend schools with low concentrations of low-income students. Hence, choices for top schools by students with underperforming home-schools would be given top priority."
Heterogeneous Preferences and the Efficacy of Public School Choice