Open Enrollment and Fiscal Incentives

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential role of selected fiscal incentives in attempting to achieve greater racial and socioeconomic integration through open enrollment programs. Three premises underlie this paper: first, that past experience with district wide unrestricted (color-blind) open enrollment plans indicate that this approach has not generally resulted in increased integration in individual schools even though significant proportions of the total student population voluntarily transferred to nonneighborhood schools; second, that if school integration can be achieved through a program of voluntary compliance, that such a program is preferred to a nonvoluntary program which accomplishes the same objectives at a similar cost; and third, that our society has adopted the goal of integrating our public schools as a necessary condition for the achievement of an integrated society. The fiscal incentives discussed in this paper are of two major types: adjustments in the direct cost to the family of utilizing the transfer option through a system of transfer fees and bonuses, and adjustments in property tax bills for school purposes in integrating neighborhoods through adjustments in state aid formulas. In each case, the broad outline of a specific plan is presented and evaluated in terms of its probable effectiveness. (Author/JM)