Abstract
We now consider the school choice system as a policy that expands parent rights, eases official restrictions, and revitalizes public schools. This system in the United States and England has also been studied in Japan, examining its merits and demerits. On the contrary, we have now begun to discuss introducing school choice in Japan. This system will cause a restructuring of the Japanese educational system which is said to be uniform. Hence, we must investigate the applicability of the school choice system from various viewpoints. In particular, success in introducing the system in Japan heavily depends on the number and the distribution of schools. To give actual examples, local governments in an urban area have densely located schools, while rural areas have sparsely located schools. Such differences in the physical condition greatly affects the school choice system. Hence, we have to examine if the school choice system is possible under the given conditions. Motivated by the above discussion, this paper aims to develop a method for measuring the possibility of the school choice system from a view of commuting time and the number of school buses required as public transport. First, using several assumptions, we propose equations for computing the distance between a student and the school. Second, using these equations, we present the procedure of calculating the number of required school buses. Third, we applied the method to the 3,300 local governments in Japan. From this empirical study, we obtained the following findings: 1) Population density is helpful for determining whether or not the school choice system can be introduced to the local government. 2) The applicability of the school choice system shows much difference between metropolitan prefectures and Hokkaido/Tohoku prefectures, as well as between cities and towns/villages. 3) We proved that independent variables, such as the maximum walking distance and the maximum number of school buses, have a greatly impact on the applicability of the school choice system. Hence, by relieving these conditions, the school choice system becomes more applicable. 4) To extend the applicability of the school choice system, increasing the maximum distances of walk from the school and the walk from the bus stop is effective. The latter is more effective than the former. 5) In cities or wards, we can introduce the 3 choices-flexibility of school designation. These findings enable us to discuss the school choice system in Japan more concretely.
