Disparities in Accessibility and Performance of Public High Schools in Metropolitan Baton Rouge, Louisiana 1990-2010 ?

摘要

This study uses a Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based spatial accessibility index to measure the geographic convenience of attending a high school by accounting for the ratio of full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers to students as well as the spatial interaction between them. The index is applied to the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Statistical Ar ea (BRMSA) in 1990, 2000 and 2010 for examining the temporal changes of high school accessibility. The research indicates a significant racial disparity that high schools with more Black students tend to have poorer accessibility. Schools with poorer accessibility are also associated with lower school accountability scores. Urban areas, particularly Baton Rouge, have experienced the lowest accessibility and correspondingly low accountability scores, which in most cases have only continued through time when compared to nonurban high schools. The overall link between access, accountability, race, and geography demonstr ates a potential impact of the White flight phenomenon on high-school education disparities.