Dive Brief:
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Sixteen states have laws allowing open enrollment across school districts, while 14 permit open enrollment within a district, a recent report from the Reason Foundation shows.
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The libertarian think tank's analysis notes that during the 2024 legislative session, 21 states introduced at least 40 bills meant to advance open enrollment laws.
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Open enrollment "is increasingly becoming one of the most important school choice programs," according to the public policy research organization.
Dive Insight:
School choice has become increasingly popular among some parents and policymakers since the pandemic, when options ranging from public magnet schools to private school vouchers became attractive to people weary of closed school buildings.
According to an October 2023 poll by yes. every kid. foundation., a nonprofit that advocates for families in policy implementation, and research organization YouGov, 67% of Americans supported ending residential school assignments and 84% favored giving students — regardless of where they live — the ability to attend public schools that best meet their needs.
“Research shows students use enrollment programs to transfer to higher ranked public schools," said Jude Schwalbach, senior policy analyst at Reason Foundation and author of the open enrollment study, in a statement released with the report in October. "Unfortunately, most states’ open enrollment laws are weak and ineffective and prevent families from transferring to the public schools best for them.”
However, according to a 2022 state comparison published by the Education Commission of the States, some states leverage open enrollment to make education more equitable.
California and Colorado, for example, prioritize open-enrollment admission for students who qualify for free-or reduced-price lunch or for students attending low-performing schools. In Connecticut and Nebraska, states use open enrollment to boost school integration, according to ECS, which tracks education policies and legislation.
The Reason Foundation report suggests these best practices for states and districts to encourage equitable access and put in place strong open-enrollment policies:
- States require school districts to have cross-district and within-district enrollment policies.
- Districts can only reject transfer requests for select reasons, such as limited school capacity.
- School districts don't charge families tuition for transferring.
- Districts don't discriminate against transfer applicants based on their abilities or disabilities.
- States collect and publicize open enrollment data by school district.
- Districts report seating capacity by school and grade level annually.
- Districts provide rejected applicants with reasons for that decision and applicants have an opportunity to appeal.
