Boston needs to overhaul school assignment system

When Judge Arthur Garrity Jr. ordered the desegregation of Boston public schools in 1974, the decision sparked protests that made headlines across the country. The decision to require 18,000 students to ride buses was intended to address inequalities in the Boston school system. Yet 50 years later, at the start of the 2024 school year, gaps in education remain.

The data paints a stark picture. White and Asian students in Boston the score is much higher than their black and Hispanic peers on state standardized tests, and graduation rates for blacks and Hispanics remain lower than other students in the district—only 78 percent of blacks and Hispanics finished in 2023, compared with 87 percent of white students and 93 percent of Asian students. Additionally, 69 percent of the class of 2022’s graduates are white. went to collegewhile only 57 percent of black graduates and 39 percent of Hispanic graduates did the same.

Boston’s school assignment system has changed significantly since the 1970s. Today, bus use is voluntary: students can attend schools located far from where they live, as well as a number of schools in the neighborhood. This choice allows historically disadvantaged students to attend schools with more peers from diverse backgrounds—an option that many choose. Roughly three-quarters of students chose to enroll in out-of-district schools in the 2000s and 2010s. A recent study our organization, MIT Drawing Labsshows that today’s assignment system works in terms of facilitating integration.

However, the cost of the current system is high. Among 100 USA school districts with highest enrollment, Boston says highest travel costs per student in the country. As of 2021, the city spent more than $2,000 per student on travel, equivalent to 8 percent of the school’s per-pupil spending.

Moreover, the educational benefits provided by districtwide choice are less clear than the benefits of integration. Our study, which uses robust randomized methods developed by Blueprint Labs to estimate the causal effect of enrollment in different types of schools, paints a nuanced picture of the benefits of commuting to out-of-district schools. Black and Hispanic students who go to school outside the area have more white and Asian peers than they otherwise would. But travel does not impact learning as measured by MCAS scores, high school graduation rates, or college admissions. We argue that this is because in BPS’s current choice system—as opposed to the separate and unequal system of 1974—the schools students go to are no better than those nearby.

Lawyer Theodor Landsmark, who gained national fame in 1976 as the victim of a racially motivated attack by anti-busing protesters in front of City Hall, foresaw this dilemma. In a 2009 Globe article: Landsmark wrote: “It’s time to end bus service in Boston. The city’s demographics have changed. … Bus service does not solve the problem of improving urban education for all of our diverse residents.”

In the 15 years since Landsmark was published, the need to rethink the city’s transport policy has only grown. The huge sums currently spent on transport between regions could be better spent. Instead, the city could invest in programs with proven educational benefits. Effective high-dose training program Saga EducationFor example, in 2023 the cost per student will be only $1,800. These expenditures may help eliminate racial achievement gaps to a greater extent than neighborhood allocations.

Some might argue that choice is inherently valuable and that neighborhood schools are likely to be more segregated than the schools that many historically disadvantaged families choose today. However, these undeniable benefits must be weighed against alternative uses of bus money. Boston schools have improved significantly since 1974: the dropout rate among all students has decreased and the racial gap, although still present, has narrowed. Therefore, school work plans developed in 1974 may be less useful today. It is time to consider changing transportation policy in light of these changes in the city’s educational environment.

Joshua Angrist and Parag Pathak are professors of economics at MIT and co-founders Drawing laboratories And Avela Education. Amanda Schmidt is a senior policy and public affairs specialist at Blueprint Labs. Angrist received the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2021, and Pathak was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal in 2018 as the best American economist under the age of 40.