Yes. Under the Hukou System (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hukou_system), children could only attend schools in the area where your household was registered. If had a rural Hukou, and moved to an urban area to get a job, your children would not be able to attend school in that urban area. You had to leave them behind in your rural area for them to attend school. There have been reforms to the Hukou system in the last decade, so it's not as harsh as it used to be, but it is still much better to have an urban Hukou than a rural one.
In big cities (shanghai, beijing), some public services are tied to housing. e.g. public schools are only provided for local residents or people have houses in that area.
