Opinion: California’s public school districts need to attract students and open enrollment can help
A school choice bill that would’ve provided education savings accounts to students recently died in the state legislature, but California still has a path to improve school choice for parents and students in ways that parents, schools, and public school supporters should embrace.
K-12 open enrollment weakens residential assignment, letting students enroll in public schools outside their attendance zone so long as extra seats are available. Unfortunately, California’s open enrollment laws are restrictive and are in much need of improvement. With declining enrollment at Los Angeles Unified, Santa Ana Unified, and many of Southern California’s public school districts, a more robust state open enrollment program could help public schools win students back.
For instance, Riverside Unified School District used the District of Choice program to combat its declining enrollment. To attract new students, Riverside launched specialized programs in science and technology, dual-language immersion, and arts programming to make its schools stand out from neighboring ones.
At the same time, research in other states shows how open enrollment can help school districts. In Wisconsin, Reason Foundation research found demonstrated that school districts that lost students through open enrollment initially then went on to improve on state tests, showing that public school districts can improve when pushed by parents voting with their feet and choosing other schools.
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