The Great Migration and Education Quality in the South

The Great Migration radically altered the characteristics of both Northern metropolitan areas receiving migrants and Southern counties experiencing outmigration. Here, I investigate the effects of outmigration on relative Black and white school quality in the South. Using neighboring county lynchings as an instrument, in conjunction with datasets on Black and white school quality and Rosenwald schools, I am able to estimate whether and to what extent differential levels of outmigration across Southern counties corresponded to differential shifts in school quality. I describe possible mechanisms for changes, such as positive selection into migration, growth in school board migration-aversion, and cotton labor demand. Ultimately, I find that outmigration led to increases in Black teacher salary and a moderate decrease in the length of the Black school term, which was stronger in more agricultural counties. This generally supports the migration-aversion and labor demand mechanisms. Additionally, I find that Black outmigration generally led to reductions in white school quality, most notably in the number of teachers per student.