The Scales of Power in School District Secession

Abstract

Research focused on the processes and effects of educational segregation has consistently centered school district and municipal boundaries as conceptual units that are critical to understanding the dividing mechanisms of different racial and economic groups across U.S. schools. The two prongs constituting this line of inquiry—demographic and policy focused research—have emphasized the effects of these political units, particularly in how they sort different racial groups and structure access to high status educational programs.