School choice reforms such as charter schools, vouchers, open enrollment, and private and public school tax credit donation programs have expanded throughout the United States over the past twenty years. Arizona’s long-standing public school choice system enrolls a higher percentage of public school students in charter schools than any state besides Washington D.C. A growing number of Arizona’s charter schools are managed by for-profit and nonprofit Education Management Organizations (EMOs). Advocates of school choice argue that free-market education approaches will make public schools competitive and nimble as parents’ choices place pressures on schools to improve or close. This, then, improves all schools: public, private, and charter. Critics are concerned that education markets produce segregation along racial and social class lines and inequalities in educational opportunities, because competition favors advantaged parents and children who can access resources. Private and for-profit schools may see it in their interest to exclude students who require more support. School choice programs, then, may further marginalize students who live in poverty, who receive special education services, and English language learners.

We do not fully understand how Arizona’s mature school choice system affects parents and other stakeholders in communities “on the ground.” That is, how are school policies understood and acted out? I used ethnographic methods to document and analyze the social, cultural, and political contexts and perspectives of stakeholders at one district public school and in its surrounding community, including its charter schools. I examined: (a) how stakeholders perceived and engaged with schools; (b) how stakeholders understood school policies, including school choice policies; and (c) what influenced families’ choices.

Findings highlight how most stakeholders supported district public schools. At the same time, some “walked the line” between choices that were good for their individual families and those they believed were good for public schools and society. Stakeholders imagined “community” and “accountability” in a range of ways, and they did not all have equal access to policy knowledge. Pressures related to parental accountability in the education market were apparent as stakeholders struggled to make, and sometimes revisit, their choices, creating a tenuous schooling environment for their families.

"White flight" is a sociological phenomenon where White members depart urban neighborhoods or schools predominantly populated by minorities, and move to places like suburbs or commuter towns. A huge limitation in White flight research does not account for communities in rural America. The rural community of Garden City, Kansas, is of particular interest because of its shift in demographics over the years. Garden City has transformed dramatically with the arrival of immigrants to staff meatpacking plants and their children who attend the Garden City Public School District. In the last eighteen years, the Garden City Public School District has experienced a 204% growth in Hispanic student enrollment while simultaneously experiencing a 54% decline in White student enrollment. The exodus of White students from the Garden City Public School District is the focus of this research. The findings of this study indicate that White flight exists in the Garden City Public School District primarily as a product of racism due to White community constituents' feelings of xenophobia and ethnophobia toward Garden City's minority populations.

The term "White flight" and its effects are well documented in large urban city centers. However, few studies consider the same effects on smaller American communities. This case study investigates Lexington, Nebraska, a rural community of approximately 10,000 citizens, that has experienced a population influx of minorities in the last 25 years. The population shift has increased the representation of Hispanic, Asian, and now Somali students in the Lexington Public School system, which, in turn, has been accompanied by a dramatic decrease in White, Anglo students. This study attempts to identify and describe the reasons for the exodus of White students from the public school setting. Possible reasons that might explain the decreases in White student enrollment may include overcrowding in schools, unsafe school environments, and/or less one-on-one attention with classroom teachers.