Open enrollment is an important part of school choice for California

As many Southern California school districts lose students and face budget shortfalls, open enrollment is a practical solution that would help make public schools more attractive to families. Rather than assigning kids to schools based on their address, open enrollment allows students to transfer to any public school with available seats.

California’s current K-12 cross-district open enrollment laws, which are supposed to allow public school students to transfer to public schools outside their assigned school districts, are overly restrictive, complicated and in need of reform.

California’s current open enrollment laws earned a grade of D-, scoring 62 out of 100 possible points, from Reason Foundation’s latest ranking of every state’s open enrollment transfer laws. The state’s cross-district open enrollment programs—the District of Choice and Interdistrict Permit System—don’t guarantee students transfer opportunities to schools in other districts even if open seats are available.

The District of Choice program is limited to students whose districts opt into the program. In districts that opt in, transfers don’t need permission from their assigned districts to leave, and participating districts can’t discriminate against applicants based on their abilities or personal characteristics. This would be a good policy. Unfortunately, during the 2025-26 school year, only 42 districts, or 4% of California’s 937 districts, chose to participate in the program.

The state’s Interdistrict Permit System, on the other hand, is significantly more restrictive. Before transferring, students must receive permission from both the receiving district and their assigned one, either of which can veto the application. Unlike the District of Choice program, transfer applicants are considered on a case-by-case basis, regardless of whether the school has openings.

Both of these policies fail to maximize students ‘ options because districts can either choose not to participate or limit the number of transfers, regardless of their available capacity.

Programs like these prevent students from accessing schools with better academic offerings. For example, in 2016 and 2012, the California Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) found that many students used the District of Choice program to access schools that scored better on state tests. This finding is consistent with open enrollment transfer data from Texas, Florida, Wisconsin, and Arizona.

The LAO’s reports also showed that students used open enrollment to access specialized courses, such as Advanced Placement and pre-university International Baccalaureate classes.

Robust open enrollment options can make a big difference for public school students. A 2023 study published by The University of Chicago’s Becker Friedman Institute for Economics showed that academic achievement and college enrollment improved for students using the Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) within-district open enrollment option, especially when compared to their non-participating peers.

Better academics isn’t the only reason students use open enrollment. Some California students used it to escape bullying. In other states with successful programs, families use to improve their school and work commutes, transfer to schools with smaller class sizes, and find schools that best fit their needs.

Students aren’t the only ones to benefit from strong open enrollment laws, school districts do too. The LAO reports showed that some districts that initially lost students via open enrollment were able to reverse these declines after responding to requests from parents, such as adding math and science classes.

When districts need to attract students, they are motivated to improve and demonstrate to families that their schools are a good place to be. The Becker Friedman Institute study found that LAUSD’s worst-performing schools improved the most after implementing open enrollment.

Open enrollment is a win-win for students and districts. Additionally, improving California’s cross-district transfer policies would improve the state’s open enrollment grade in the Reason Foundation’s report, from a D- to an A-.

California’s public schools need to do a better job of offering parents and students what they need. Students should attend schools that best meet their needs and plans. Allowing kids to transfer to any public school with open seats would go a long way in improving student achievement and satisfaction with the state’s public school system.

A version of this column first appeared at The Orange County Register

The post Open enrollment is an important part of school choice for California appeared first on Reason Foundation.

Source: https://reason.org/commentary/open-enrollment-is-an-important-part-of-school-choice-for-california/