The Barriers We Build To Quality Schools: An Optimization Study of Zoning and School Inequality

Abstract

Despite the recognized importance of education, quality education is not accessible to everyone in the United States due to barriers created by housing, which are exacerbated by practices such as exclusionary zoning. There is still a limited understanding of the relationship between zoning and school inequality, however, and research surrounding this topic thus far has not, to my knowledge, considered how access to quality schools would change if zoning laws were altered. This paper explores the questions: What is the effect of school and residential zoning on school quality? How can access to quality schools be made more equitable? Using zoning related data of school districts in New Jersey, an equation is created using LASSO that models the relationship between zoning and school quality. This model is then used to simulate a restructuring of zoning laws and zoning-related features of school districts in Camden, Atlantic, and Essex counties such that inequality between districts is minimized and high school quality is maintained. The results of the model and optimization problem support the previous finding that zoning creates barriers between school districts that maintain the wealth of certain communities while leaving others under-resourced. In addition, the results suggest that districts with more medium density zoning than its surrounding districts have lower quality schools, but increasing medium and high density zoning in most school districts has the potential to improve access to quality schools while maintaining high school quality overall. Other than medium density zoning, however, it was found that zoning laws alone have less predictive strength of school quality when compared to median house values, affordable housing, and incarceration rates. This suggests the need to better understand the system of housing, communities, and education more broadly, with zoning as only one piece of this. Overall, the results call for school districts to see themselves as part of a greater community that has the ability to make quality schools accessible to all by lowering barriers between neighboring districts with drastically differing home values and neighborhood environments.