Education markets and school segregation: causes, consequences and impacts

This chapter examines the relationship between education markets and school segregation, considering the extant empirical evidence on marketization and its impact on school segregation. Advocates of market theory emphasize demand-driven choices driving the schooling market, theoretically generating competitive pressures, improving quality and equity for all (Bast & Walberg, 2004; Hoxby, 2003). According to this argument, marketization policies in education, such as school choice, privatization and competition, can ameliorate school segregation, as parents act as rational choice consumers in choosing the best school, theoretically lifting overall achievement, and allowing disadvantaged students to escape under-performing residential catchment areas (see the argument discussed in Jabbar, 2016; Lubienski et al., 2022; Zancajo & Bonal, 2022).