School choice centers on the belief that parents should have the power to make educational decisions that suit their child's needs, as they are closest to the child.
The Big Picture
Education is fundamentally the purview of the states. The federal government has been involved since the 19th century, although it later established a more formal role. After World War II, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) was established at the cabinet level. Under the Carter Administration, the Education Department was established when HEW was split into the Department of Health and Human Services and the Education Department.
While dismantling the Education Department has been a conservative dream since its inception, the department was firmly established by the end of the Reagan administration. It was not until the second Trump administration that its dissolution gained any real traction, although its dissolution would still require an act of Congress, as it had been created by one.
The federal role, up until the Second Trump Administration, has typically involved funding, civil rights enforcement, and data gathering. Under the Trump Administration, it is unclear what the continued role will be for the smallest of the cabinet departments.
Let's dive into the nuts and bolts of school choice.
Zooming In
School choice centers on the belief that parents should have the power to make educational decisions that suit their child's needs, as they are closest to the child, rather than an elected official or a department employee in Washington. These choices have several diverging paths. There are traditional public schools, charter schools, magnet schools, independent/private schools, and home schools.
Charter schools are fully public schools open to children in their school district. They are not allowed to be selective in admission or to discriminate against special needs students, just like a traditional public school. What sets them apart is that they have permission to operate outside of specific rules and regulations to bring innovation to the classroom. In exchange for these exemptions, the charter school is expected to perform as well or better than the traditional public schools. Charter schools are typically chartered by their local education authority.
There are many other ways to authorize charter schools. In some cases, they are chartered by a State Authority. Some states have experimented with other organizations chartering the schools. Over time, we have learned that the best functioning charter systems have one charter entity at the local level and one at the state level, where appeals can be heard for local denials or unique schools with multi-district or statewide attendance zones. Charter schools may offer a specialization, but it's not required. This allows for STEM, Arts, Classical Education, foreign language immersion, and other unique focuses for an entire student body.
Magnet schools are also public schools, but they have the opportunity to be selective. Magnet schools focus on a particular academic discipline or approach. One may focus on theater and require auditions plus a portfolio of work, or Science and Math, requiring an entrance exam or specific scores on regular standardized testing. Others may have a broader focus on the International Baccalaureate program. Magnet schools may exist in their buildings or be an embedded program in traditional schools.
Private schools are indeed private institutions. They typically require tuition payment and a testing process for enrollment. Private schools can be either secular or religious, with most faiths represented in the sector. Some religious schools may focus on specific socioeconomic backgrounds and could impose income limitations on parents. Similar to charter or magnet schools, private schools offer varied curricula. These may include traditional American education, classical education, religious education components, immersion in foreign languages, or a combination of these approaches. Unlike charter and magnet schools, the accountability mechanisms generally rest with the school's board of directors and the accrediting agency. While some states enforce more stringent standards that could potentially close a school, the state's role is often secondary, as the degree of oversight differs significantly from one state to another.
Open Enrollment offers another avenue for school choice and can take a couple of different forms. The first is the within-district option. Here, a student may attend another school in their district, but not the one they are zoned for. Perhaps the zoned school lacks the ideal program, while the neighboring school has what the student is seeking. The second option is between districts. In this case, a student can attend a school in a neighboring district that better meets their needs, even though they are zoned for a different school and another district altogether. Some states and districts make this option easier than others.
