The public school choice system in Oakland, which enables families to look at the nearly 120 schools across the city and choose the one they think is best for their kids, is meant to even the playing field. Instead of being restricted to the closest school, which may have fewer resources or not fit their child's needs, families in lower-income neighborhoods can have access to the same public schools as wealthier families. But new research from UC Berkeley computer scientists examining the Oakland Unified School District system questions whether that's really happening. And it asks hard questions about how the current approach might be entrenching inequalities instead of fighting them. The researchers interviewed 10 low-income parents and parents of color in Oakland and asked them what they wanted in a school, how they found information about schools, and about their experiences going through the application and enrollment process. They also interviewed four "parent advocates"?staff of OUSD or local community organizations who help families evaluate schools?about their work, the challenges they face, and how the enrollment process could be improved for the families they work with.