Choosing, Then Leaving Danish Public Schools: A Theory of Fragile Integration

Purpose: In Copenhagen, Denmark, a city with many public and private school options, the public schools (folkeskole) span grades 0–9, with children looping with the same students and teachers. This model can develop cohesive classrooms that have the potential to support school integration in diverse but gentrifying areas. Yet, school choice policies make it easier for parents to leave early. While researchers have documented why privileged parents choose to enroll their children in public schools, the decision to stay in later grades is undertheorized. Research Methods: Using a case study design, we conducted interviews with 17 white, privileged parents to explore the role that their choices play in school integration, examining what factors contribute to them staying or leaving early for choice options and the consequences for integration. Findings: Parents in our sample made a series of ongoing decisions around school choice, with most initially choosing their assigned folkeskole. Yet, despite the strengths of the classroom community, many obstacles to creating long-term school integration exist, including a domino effect that occurs when parents exit, or consider exiting, for school choice options in the later elementary years. This phenomenon of choosing then leaving is what we have called “fragile integration.” Implications: Our research shows how ongoing school choice undermines school integration, even when parents opt in to diverse public schools. As students leave in the older grades, the integration in public school classrooms can be fragile, leading to inequities in access to opportunities and unintended challenges for the children left behind.