This article examines the implications of the school choice policy,
which has contributed to the segregation of basic education in urban
Finland, by analysing the connection between the socio-economic status
(SES) of schools’ student populations and parents’ satisfaction with
their children’s schools. The 318 participants were parents of lower
secondary school students attending socio-economically affluent,
average, and disadvantaged schools in three Finnish cities. Multiple
indicators multiple causes modelling, with school SES and parental
education as covariates, was used to test the hypothesis that a school’s
higher SES is connected to higher levels of parental school
satisfaction with different aspects of the school’s functioning. The
hypothesis was partially verified as the results showed that a higher
SES of a school implied more parental satisfaction with home–school
cooperation and school culture. The findings suggest that the social
segregation of basic education in urban Finland has implications beyond
the differentiation of students’ academic achievements and provide
empirical evidence on the workings of one of the segregation mechanisms.