School Choice and Commuting: How Far New York City Students Travel to School

R E S E A R C H R E P O R T School Choice and Commuting How Far New York City Students Travel to School Sean P. Corcoran October 2018 (Revised November 2018) E D U C A T I ON P O L I C Y P R O G R A M A B O U T T H E U R B A N I N S T I T U T E The nonprofit Urban Institute is a leading research organization dedicated to developing evidence-based insights that improve people’s lives and strengthen communities. For 50 years, Urban has been the trusted source for rigorous analysis of complex social and economic issues; strategic advice to policymakers, philanthropists, and practitioners; and new, promising ideas that expand opportunities for all. Our work inspires effective decisions that advance fairness and enhance the well-being of people and places. Copyright © October 2018. Urban Institute. Permission is granted for reproduction of this file, with attribution to the Urban Institute. Cover photo by Kristi Blokhin/Shutterstock. Contents Acknowledgments iv Executive Summary v Errata vii School Choice and Commuting 1 1. Public School Choice and Student Transportation Policy in New York City 1 2. How Far Do New York City Students Travel to School? 5 3. How Many Nearby School Options Are Available to New York City Students? 17 4. How Far Are New York City High School Students Willing to Commute to School? 27 5. School Choice and the Diffusion of Students across Schools 36 6. Discussion 42 Appendix 45 Forming Block Combinations with Student and School Location Data 45 Travel-Time Calculations 47 Student Demographic and Other Data 48 School Quality Measures 51 Notes 53 References 56 About the Author 57 Statement of Independence 58 IV A C K N O W L E D G M EN T S Acknowledgments This report was funded by the Walton Family Foundation. We are grateful to them and to all our funders, who make it possible for Urban to advance its mission. The views expressed are those of the author and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders. Funders do not determine research findings or the insights and recommendations of Urban experts. Further information on the Urban Institute’s funding principles is available at urban.org/fundingprinciples. I thank Matthew Chingos and Kristin Blagg of the Urban Institute for the invitation to conduct this study as part of a multicity Student Transportation Working Group. I thank the New York City Department of Education, the Research Alliance for New York City Schools, Amy Ellen Schwartz, and Meryle Weinstein for facilitating access to the necessary administrative data to complete this work. Luigi Caloi, Rebecca Ivester, and Natalie Mufarrige contributed truly outstanding research assistance. Jennifer Jennings and Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj provided helpful feedback. Any errors are my own. E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y V Executive Summary New York City (NYC) offers considerable public school choice at all levels of schooling. Options include traditional neighborhood zoned schools, magnet and gifted and talented programs, dual language schools, charter schools, exam-based specialized high schools, and a citywide high school choice program. The city’s density and public transit system put many of these options within reach, and the NYC Department of Education provides half- or full-fare MetroCards to subsidize pupil transportation by bus and subway. While school choice provides opportunities for families to seek out the best school for them, it can lead to more time commuting to school. In this report, I use geographic student and school location data to estimate commuting times for NYC elementary, middle, and high school students. These estimates assume students walk or take public transportation to school, an assumption I believe holds for most students. I also quantify the number of school options available to families within a given commute and calculate the time it would take them to reach the nearest “high-quality” school. Using high school application data, I examine eighth-grade students’ willingness to travel to school and how this compares with their actual commuting time. Finally, I examine one unexplored implication of school choice: the diffusion of students across schools, or the propensity to attend school where none of one’s peers come from the same neighborhood or previous school. Because subgroup-level differences in commuting time, access to school options, and diffusion are of interest, all my results are reported by race or ethnicity, gender, eligibility for free and reduced-price lunch (FRPL), enrollment in a charter or traditional school, borough of residence, and prior achievement on state tests. All data come from the 2013–14 and 2014–15 academic years. Key findings include the following:  The average commuting time to school on foot or by public transportation increases from 10.3 minutes in kindergarten to 17.4 minutes in sixth grade and 31.3 minutes in ninth grade.  At all levels, black students tra