Journal of Social Equity and Public Administration

Understanding the Determinants of School District Secessions

Christopher Tyler Burks

Samford University

Peter A. Jones

University of Alabama at Birmingham

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2250-4862

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/jsepa.v2i2.4944

Keywords: School segregation, public policy

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Abstract

School district secession occurs when a community splits from an existing school district and creates a new district. While rare, secessions are increasing in number and relevance, and previous work has shown that secessions have contributed to the resegregation of American schools. We build on prior research by exploring how state policy and political, economic, and racial factors influence the likelihood of secession attempts. School districts with declining enrollments and a more racially segregated student body were more likely to experience a secession attempt; we also show that state policy can restrict secession attempts. Advocates for secession often use race-neutral arguments about attaining local control or correcting diseconomies of scale. Results, however, suggest that political and economic rationales are less predictive of secessions than racial segregation. We conclude that secessions exemplify institutional racism when the formation of new boundaries follows the lines of de facto segregation and thereby excludes people of color.

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Author Biographies

Christopher Tyler Burks, Samford University

Christopher Tyler Burks (he/him) (burks@urbananalysis.org) is a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Samford University and a PhD candidate in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at American University. He studies urban policy and regional governance, and his scholarship appears in Journal of Public Affairs Education.

Peter A. Jones, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Peter A. Jones PhD (he/him) (PeterJones@uab.edu) is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He researches topics in public budgeting and finance, focusing on local and special district governments. His research has appeared in Policy Studies Journal, among others.

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