Rezoning Educational Opportunities: The Relationship Between School Attendance Zone Boundary Changes and Access to Schools of Varying Quality

Abstract

U.S. public schools provide substantially different educational opportunities to students—even within school districts, where attendance zone boundaries (AZBs) shape most children’s access to schools. The (re)drawing of AZBs is therefore a highly consequential policy decision. In this paper, I study how AZB changes in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area affect children of different races between 2000 and 2020, including how they alter children’s travel times to school and access to school-level educational opportunities. Findings are starkly unequal, with rezoning disproportionately negatively affecting Black and Hispanic children. Results highlight the need for educational leaders to explicitly consider how AZB changes will redistribute opportunity within their districts.