School Segregation in Era of Immigration & School Choice

We document trends in school segregation by racial/ethnic group and by family income in North Carolina between 1998 and 2016, a period of rapid immigration, decline in federal oversight, and growth of charter schools. Accounting for students in both public and private schools, we find that segregation generally increased over the period, with the increase concentrated in urban areas. In addition, low-income students became more segregated from other students during the period. Segregation between white and Hispanic students increased sharply. We measure and decompose segregation in metropolitan areas, finding that more than half can be attributed to racial disparities inside school districts. We propose and estimate a model that explains differences in segregation by racial mix, density, and the tolerance of whites to exposure to black and Hispanic students.