Who gets to schools? Education cumulative inequalities in Brazilian cities

Access to quality basic education is crucial for social equity. In Global South cities, where socioeconomic, racial, and infrastructural inequalities are extensive and cumulative, a multidimensional understanding of school access is especially necessary. Traditional accessibility analyses often overlook critical dimensions such as school quality and heterogeneous demand. This paper introduces an innovative framework to examine how these inequalities shape public elementary school access, integrating school capacity, differentiated demand, and service quality. Leveraging a spatial optimization algorithm combined with explainable AI (Shapley values), the analysis presented in this article reveals income as the most decisive factor in school choice in São Paulo and Belo Horizonte, in Brazil. Racial disparities and inadequate pedestrian infrastructure (sidewalk coverage) significantly amplify access barriers. Considering school quality reveals more pronounced inequalities and a funneling effect that disproportionately benefits higher-income students. This study offers a diagnosis of spatial injustice, underscoring the urgent need for integrated education and urban mobility policies to effectively promote equity in education.