Race and the structure of school districts in the United States

Tastes for associations could influence the structure, conduct and performance of the system of local governments in the US. A model of jurisdiction formation, which considers racial discrimination, argues that prejudiced individuals in a racially mixed area may choose to limit the size of their jurisdiction to meet their taste for disassociation and avoid likely cost efficiencies from school district consolidations. Increasing racial heterogeneity therefore suggests added jurisdictions for these individuals. When the model was tested using state panel data on school districts and special-service districts, it was found that increasing racial heterogeneity of a state population raises the number of school districts. Also, no support was found for the assertion that increasing racial heterogeneity influences the development of special districts.