New report outlines three steps to create public school choice in all 50 states

Thirteen years ago, Kelley Williams-Bolar went to jail for sending her daughters to a public school outside their residentially zoned district.

Now, education reformers are trying to break down what they see as modern-day segregation created by public school zones in favor of parental choice.

“We are living in a country that not only tells parents they cannot choose the public school that is the best fit for their children, but that it is illegal for them to do so,” said Halli Faulkner, an education policy expert with yes. every kid.

“There is still a persistent, prevalent, and legal type of discrimination that millions of families face when trying to access public schools – discrimination based on a family’s residential address.”

A new report from yes. every kid. – “No More Lines: Opening Public Schools to All Families by 2030” – outlines three steps every state can take to ensure public schools are truly public.  

1. Prohibit discrimination based on residential address 

Though the United States has instituted a slew of anti-discrimination laws, none of them forbid school districts from discriminating on the basis of address.  

In fact, all 50 states and the District of Columbia either allow or require districts to assign students to a school based on their address.  

However, recent polling from yes. every kid. revealed the vast majority of Americans (84%) supported every student having the ability “to attend the public school in their state that best meets their needs.”  

Support was particularly strong among Black respondents (92%) as well as Democrat (88%), working class (87%), female (86%) and K-12 parent respondents (86%).  

Yet public education regulations, many of which have been on the books for years, often fail to reflect these values. 

2. Decriminalize address sharing 

Currently, 24 states have laws or legal precedents against “address sharing” – a parent using a relative or friend’s address to enroll their child in a different school. 

“Public school districts are unique in that they are government entities that deny service to a portion of the public based on where someone lives,” wrote Available to All, a public education watchdog. “Other locally funded services, such as parks, libraries, and health clinics, do not use a person’s address to admit some and turn others away.” 

Parents who address share have been accused of larceny, fraud and can be forced to pay back tens of thousands of dollars in stolen “tuition” to public schools. 

3. Create mandatory open enrollment 

Open enrollment policies vary widely state to state – and district to district – with only 16 states currently mandating schools accept students from another zone or outside their district. 

Studies have shown open enrollment allows students to move to higher-quality schools.  

In one California study, schools that lost students to open enrollment even took meaningful steps to further engage parents and the community.  

“Where mandatory open enrollment creates a truly open educational landscape, voluntary open enrollment [when districts can choose not to participate] usually leads to limited and confusing enrollment programs in which only some parents are empowered to choose some schools, depending on where they live and what their neighboring districts are,” Faulker concluded.  

“Advocates for flexibility, efficiency, and family decision-making in education have a duty to cast a bold vision for the future [and] the first step in truly transforming how our kids attain their education must be to guarantee every kid access to public schools.”