What Is Public School Choice?

Public school choice is just that, giving families options within a public school system. Choice comes in a variety of forms called by a variety of names.

Alternative Schools
The most generic term for schools of choice is "alternative." Educators and parents alike have long recognized that a standard school program does not work for everyone. So over the years, in different places and different fashion, alternative schools have been developed to meet the needs and interests of diverse students. These days, the term is most often used for small secondary schools designed to provide a nurturing environment for students considered at risk of school failure; federal statistics show that some 610,000 students are now enrolled in such schools.1

Magnet Schools
Choice evolved as a key strategy for voluntary school desegregation in the 1960s and led to the term "magnet schools." Until the early seventies, federal district courts had routinely issued "court-ordered desegregation mandates" to school systems, requiring them to racially integrate their schools. The courts discovered from the experience of several districts that more desegregation - and more positive integration - would occur if parents were instead offered an attractive alternative to their neighborhood school. Districts across the country began introducing voluntary school choice programs. In the mid-70s, the Houston Independent School District described the effect of its Performing and Visual Arts School as working like a "magnet" in attracting students.2 By 1980 most major cities had systems with magnet schools. Districts use a "controlled choice” admission policy for some magnet schools to balance the student population, adhering carefully to legal requirements that have evolved over the decades. More than 1,350 magnet schools were reported in 1999-2000.3

Charter Schools
Charter schools are public schools of choice that may have very traditional educational programs or may have the same kind of underlying theme as found at magnet schools. What makes them distinctive is their exemption from many local and state regulations that apply to traditional public schools. These exemptions allow parents, teachers, community leaders, educational entrepreneurs, and others greater flexibility to innovate, create, and provide students with increased educational options. Charter schools must be sponsored by designated local, state, or other organizations charged with monitoring their quality and integrity while holding them accountable for academic results and fiscal practices.

Implementation of charter schools began with legislation in Minnesota in 1991, and 40 states now have charter laws. As of April 2005, the nation had approximately 3,400 charter schools, 450 of them new in that school year.4 The vast majority of charter schools are authorized by a local school district.5

Schools within Schools
“Schools within schools” are autonomous sub-units within large public schools. Placing autonomous new schools within existing structures has several advantages, including more efficient use of space and access to some shared programming among the new programs.6 Districts seeking to meet the requirements of NCLB with limited facilities funding are among those turning to the school-within-school model. The National Association of Elementary School Principals officially recognizes a school within a school as a separate entity, running its own budget and planning its own programs. However, school safety and building operation remain vested with the principal of the larger school, and use of shared space must be negotiated.7 Administrators have devised a variety of plans in accordance with the special circumstances and resources of their districts.8 For an example of multiple co-located schools in New York City, see One Building for Multiple Schools.

Virtual Schools
Virtual schools are made possible by technology advances. Instead of taking classes in a school building, students can receive their education using a computer. Virtual schools have an organized curriculum. Depending on the state and district, students can take the full curriculum or individual classes. Some school districts use these online schools to offer classes that help students learn at their own pace. This type of instruction is called "distance learning." According to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology, 40,000 to 50,000 students in 37 states are participating in online courses through approximately 2,400 publicly funded Internet-based charter schools and state and district virtual schools.9

Virtual schools and distance learning initiatives, such as the Illinois, Kentucky, and Michigan Virtual High Schools, are primarily funded by individual states and designed to meet the state's educational needs. Regional initiatives, like those in the Clovis Unified School District in California and the Jeffco Net Academy in Colorado, are examples of homegrown programs in which regions have pooled teaching and technology resources to meet community needs.10

Open Enrollment
Open enrollment is a form of choice in which parents can ask to have their child attend any school in the district or, even, in a different district entirely, through "interdistrict choice." An open enrollment district may offer charter schools or other nontraditional options in the mix of parental choices or may simply offer what would otherwise be considered "neighborhood" schools. State law often requires or encourages open enrollment; 33 states have interdistrict open enrollment laws, and 15 require districts to offer open enrollment.11 Some districts use open enrollment as their main vehicle for choice. See Open Enrollment in Seattle for example.12