Attitudes Toward Diversity and the School Choice Process: Middle-Class Parents in a Segregated Urban Public School District

White flight from urban public schools has been well documented, but little attention has been paid to middle-class reinvestment in urban schools. This article combines findings from interviews with middle-class parents of Boston Public School students with demographic data from the city’s public el...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Urban education (Beverly Hills, Calif.) Calif.), 2013-03, Vol.48 (2), p.198-231
Main Authors: Kimelberg, Shelley McDonough, Billingham, Chase M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitudes
Attribution Theory
Boston, Massachusetts
Children
Demographics
Elementary School Students
Elementary Schools
Enrollment Trends
Etiology
Family
Interviews
Massachusetts
Middle Class
Neighborhood Schools
Parent Attitudes
Parents
Participant Characteristics
Peer Influence
Public Schools
Racial Attitudes
Racial Composition
Racial Distribution
Racial Segregation
School Choice
School districts
Schools
Social Attitudes
Student attitudes
Student Diversity
Students
Urban Areas
Urban Schools
Whites
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Summary:White flight from urban public schools has been well documented, but little attention has been paid to middle-class reinvestment in urban schools. This article combines findings from interviews with middle-class parents of Boston Public School students with demographic data from the city’s public elementary schools to examine the motivations of these parents and assess the potential ramifications of their decisions. While providing their children with a diverse school environment is a major consideration for these families, the process by which they select schools may, in the aggregate, contribute to an increase in racial segregation across the district as a whole.
ISSN:0042-0859
1552-8340
DOI:10.1177/0042085912449629