Open enrollment: The most popular public education choice option

Imagine being assigned to a grocery store based on your zip code. Would you be able to find all the products you need at the right price? How would the grocery store adjust its pricing and offerings if it knew you didn’t have any other choice? This is the dilemma public school families often face – a situation wherein a quality school and equal opportunity can simply depend on where you live.

For decades, millions of American children have been assigned to a public school. Those who live in neighborhood A, for example, must go to school A. The reasons for this were, initially, easy to understand – transportation ease and neighborhood cohesion were thought to be part of the equation. But policies of racial discrimination were also at play.

There are two kinds of open enrollment policies – intradistrict and interdistrict. The first, intradistrict, allows families to transfer to a different school, but only within the same school district. The second policy, interdistrict, allows families to transfer to any school within the state, regardless of district. Currently, 43 states have an open enrollment policy, but they can vary wildly. Some may be voluntary; others may choose a limited number of students who qualify.