Controlled-Choice Desegregation Plans

Supporters of controlled choice argue that it is a superior desegregation tool and a superior educational reform. This author addresses the first of these claims in a sample of 20 school districts above 30% minority and finds that controlled-choice plans are almost as unpopular as mandatory-reassignment plans. In addition, they produce more white flight than magnet-voluntary plans but less than mandatory-reassignment plans. Finally, controlled-choice plans produce less interracial exposure than do voluntary desegregation plans with magnets. Thus there is no evidence for the superiority of controlled choice as a desegregation tool for urban school districts.