The Impact of Public School Choice: Evidence from Los Angeles's Zones of Choice.

This article examines the Zones of Choice (ZOC) program, a school choice initiative by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) that expanded high school options within certain neighborhoods while maintaining traditional attendance zones elsewhere. Using a difference-in-differences approach, the study finds that ZOC led to significant improvements in student achievement and four-year college enrollment, primarily driven by increases in school quality rather than better student-school matching. The analysis highlights that competition among schools, measured by an option value gain (OVG) reflecting families’ access to preferred schools, is a key mechanism motivating school improvements, with larger effects observed in schools facing greater competitive pressure. Additionally, parents in ZOC neighborhoods place substantial weight on school effectiveness over peer characteristics when choosing schools, a dynamic facilitated by manageable choice sets and accessible information. The findings suggest that neighborhood-based public school choice programs can reduce educational disparities, though questions remain about long-term effects and the role of racial and economic segregation.