As urban schools decline, those who can afford it head for ever-expanding, land-consuming 'burbs. The flight of the affluent drains urban schools of funding. We can break the cycle, says Dan Akst.
"It's hard to predict how many middle-class families would choose urban life if they didn't have to worry about the schools, but it's fair to assume the proportion would be substantial. The childless bourgeoisie are a fixture of urban life in most major cities, and the couples who move out to some new subdivision when they have kids are stock figures as well. Duke University economist Thomas Nechyba, who has created a theoretical model of the relationship between school choice and housing decisions, finds in his simulation that giving all parents school vouchers substantially boosted household income in poor school districts. The reason? Many affluent people moved back."
Thanks to Andy Slabaugh
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