New Study Reveals How District Boundaries Hold Back Learning

In Missouri, a child’s ZIP code often determines the quality of their education. Strict
district boundaries and school attendance zones dictate where students go to school,
limiting access to high-performing schools for middle- and lower-income families. A
recent study, Show-Me the Way Out, examines how Missouri’s system of school
assignments enforces educational redlining, keeping students from diverse
backgrounds trapped in underperforming schools while wealthier families “buy” their
way into better districts.

Across Missouri, students are assigned to public schools based on their residential
address. While this practice is common nationwide, Missouri enforces one of the
strictest residential school assignment policies in the country. Approximately 94–96% of
public school students in Missouri attend the school their district assigns to
them—regardless of whether there’s a better school nearby.

For many families, the reason for wanting an alternative school is clear. Missouri’s
public schools vary widely in quality, with test scores, graduation rates, and resources
differing drastically between neighboring districts. Some parents seek better academic
opportunities, safer environments, or schools that align with their child’s learning needs.
However, under Missouri law, public schools have the authority to turn students away
based solely on where they live. This means that school district policies not only assign
students to schools but also exclude them from attending others—even if those schools
are close by and performing better.

In many cases, these district boundaries mirror patterns of racial segregation dating
back nearly a century. Old redlining maps from the 1930s, which marked Black and
immigrant communities as “hazardous” for home loans, still align with today’s school
district lines. These outdated policies have lasting effects—students in historically
redlined neighborhoods remain locked out of Missouri’s best schools simply because of
their address.

While Missouri has made strides in recent years with the expansion of magnet and
charter school programs, these programs have their own limitations that make them
insufficient to counteract attendance zone boundaries. Magnet schools do not have
strict attendance zones, but many of them have other admission criteria that allow the
schools to turn away prospective students. Access to charter schools was expanded to
include Boone County in 2024, but charter schools still primarily exist in only St. Louis
and Kansas City.

Ultimately, these schools are a small bandage on the larger problem—Missouri law
continues to block students from traditional public schools outside of their residentially
assigned areas. This means that for many children, educational opportunity depends
entirely on their family’s ability to afford housing in a high-performing school district. As
a result, wealthier families can “purchase” access to better schools through
homeownership, while lower-income families remain stuck in struggling districts.

Missouri’s public school system was built on the promise of equal opportunity, yet the
reality is that many students are denied access to quality education based on where
they live. Strict school district boundaries, combined with outdated policies rooted in
housing discrimination, continue to limit student success and deepen educational
inequality.

The solution to this issue is to expand school choice opportunities in Missouri. Enacting
open enrollment policies will allow parents to cross district lines and send their children
to a school that is the right fit for them. No longer will the criteria for public school
attendance be ZIP codes and attendance boundaries; parents will have the ability to
choose a school that fits their criteria whether that be the school’s proximity, academic
excellence, values, fit for the child, or anything else.

You can read the full study by the nonpartisan watchdog group, Availalble to All, here.