Students in highly segregated schools tend to commit more crimes, according to a new working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
“Concentrating disadvantaged youth together in the same schools and neighborhoods increases total crime,” a trio of researchers write. “These youth are more likely to be arrested for committing crimes together – to be ‘partners in crime.’ … Policies that increase residential and school segregation will – all else equal – increase crime through the formation of denser criminal networks.”
The researchers compared students who were affected by newly drawn school boundaries and sent to separate schools.
Researchers placed the blame on how students get assigned to their schools. Most students are assigned based on their address, which is why residential and school segregation so often go hand in hand. “School assignment policies can have unintended effects on neighborhood crime in that drawing boundaries that keep together cohesive neighborhoods with clusters of similar students may contribute to higher rates of criminal activity among youth, greater frequency of criminal partnerships among young offenders, and larger criminal networks facilitating future partnerships and crimes,” the researchers write.
The researchers did not specifically suggest school choice as a way to reduce segregation in schools, but other research has shown school choice as an effective tool in integration. For example, in Washington, D.C., more than 84 percent of traditional public schools are at least 95 percent racially homogenous. In contrast, only 43 percent of schools participating in the city’s school voucher program are 95 percent racially homogenous, according to the pro-school choice Friedman Foundation.
The paper’s authors are Stephen Billings, with the University of North Carolina Charlotte, Stephen Ross, with the University of Connecticut, and David Deming, with Harvard University.
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
