The last three years have seen a substantial uptick in violent crimes, particularly homicides, and declining K-12 academic performance, concentrated in poorer black neighborhoods. Many of these communities have become more poverty concentrated over the last few decades, as many middle-class families have move out. As a result, since 1990 the number of neighborhoods nationally with more than 30 percent poverty has doubled. The conundrum is: if we allow some people to selectively escape, what does that do for those who are left behind?
For many, this conundrum is highlighted when children from high-poverty neighborhoods are able to escape the local public schools. The Hechinger Report highlighted one such situation: the impact of a school choice lottery initiative in Charlotte (NC) that enable some students to attend highly regarded middle schools outside their poor neighborhoods.
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