Still Worth the Trip? School Busing Effects in Boston and New York

School assignment in Boston and New York City came to national attention in the 1970s as courts across the country tried to integrate schools. Today, district-wide choice allows Boston and New York students to enroll far from home. Although 1970s desegregation efforts likely benefited minority students, urban school transportation is increasingly costly and may not generate the gains in learning and educational attainment seen decades ago. The authors estimate contemporary causal effects of non-neighborhood school attendance and school travel on racial integration, achievement, and college enrollment using an identification strategy that exploits partly-random assignment generated by the Boston and New York school matching algorithms. Instrumental variables estimates suggest distance and travel boost integration for those who choose to travel but have little or no effect on test scores. Travel reduces post-secondary attainment and on-time high school graduation in New York. IV estimates show no human capital gains from travel even for students who indicate a strong preference for non-neighborhood schools. These findings are explained in part by the fact that the schools travelers travel to differ little in value-added terms from schools nearby. Negative effects on college enrollment in New York appear to arise from travel itself rather than diminished college value-added.