The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research ranked Arizona first out of fifty on the 2001 Education Freedom Index, which measures the freedom of school choice for students. Within the state, students can choose from among 492 state or locally sponsored charter schools and there are privately funded scholarships for low-income students. Furthermore, the state requires all Arizona school districts to offer choice within the district and between districts via intradistrict and interdistrict open enrollment.
Mesa Public Schools exemplifies the choice climate the state created. The open enrollment policy allows parents to choose from a variety of specialty, magnet, or focus schools and programs, and about 18 percent of the students select schools located outside of their neighborhoods. The Mesa Academy for Advanced Studies offers students the opportunity to engage in advanced work in literature, composition, mathematics, and second languages. At the high school level, there are traditional comprehensive high schools and smaller focus school campuses. Different secondary school magnet programs include the International Baccalaureate, Project Lead the Way (engineering), the Mesa Early College Academy, and the Health Sciences High School. For elementary children, there are Benjamin Franklin back-to-basics campuses along with a Montessori program.