About 49 million American kids are attending public schools this year. Despite lower birthrates and many more families choosing private schools and homeschooling since the COVID-19 pandemic upended the country’s education system, most students will remain in public schools for the foreseeable future. So if policymakers and education reformers want to give tens of millions of families real school choice, the most effective path is to let all students attend any public school with an open seat, a policy known as open enrollment.
A yearly Reason Foundation report compares each state’s open enrollment laws with best practices, including freedom of movement and transparency. Data show students use strong open enrollment programs to escape bullying, enroll in college-level courses, access smaller classes, shorten family commutes, and find the best schools for their needs.
Unfortunately, Reason Foundation finds that most states’ open enrollment laws are poor, with 33 states receiving F grades. Four states, Alaska, Maine, Maryland, and North Carolina, actually scored zero out of 100 possible points across seven key categories. The study shows that only 16 of 50 states ensure that students can transfer to public schools in districts other than the one assigned by address.
Disturbingly, 22 states allow school districts to charge tuition and fees to public school transfer students. For instance, Virginia’s Falls Church Public Schools announced that high school transfer students must pay $28,000 annually in the 2027 fiscal year, more than in-state college tuition for nursing students at the University of Virginia. Sadly, this pattern reflects many wealthier school districts using fees and high tuition rates to keep out low-income transfer students.
Well-designed open enrollment laws that ban tuition and fees at public schools eliminate these unfair practices and ensure that students, regardless of where they live, can attend any school with available space in their grade. Oklahoma and Arkansas have the best open enrollment policies. Other states’ lawmakers should embrace open enrollment, the school-choice policy with the most bipartisan support. In a recent national poll by YouGov and the nonprofit ‘yes. every kid.’, 74 percent of parents of school-aged children said they support open enrollment.
When families can choose public schools, they do. In Colorado, 29% of public school students use the open enrollment program. Data from 27 of the 46 states with some level of open enrollment found that more than 1.7 million students attended public schools other than the ones they were assigned to, which is more students than the 1.5 million enrolled in private school choice programs nationwide today.
Unfortunately, over 39 million kids, about 80 percent of today’s public school students, still live in states with weak or ineffective open enrollment laws. Open enrollment doesn’t require new spending or bureaucracy. It also benefits public schools themselves. With public school enrollment falling in four out of five states nationwide, many districts have empty classrooms, shrinking budgets, and are facing school closures.
Open enrollment lets high-performing schools attract more students whenever seats are open. The threat of losing students and the funding that leaves with them also encourages subpar districts and schools to improve. Evidence from California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin shows that open enrollment pushes struggling districts to adjust course, become more responsive to parents, and offer more classes and programs that help students succeed, creating a win-win for school districts and students.
Opponents of school choice often fear that these policies will ultimately lead to the abandonment of public schools. But open enrollment gives families more choice and creates a path toward better public schools that attract students, respond more to parents, and focus on helping every student succeed.
A version of this column first appeared at RealClearEducation.