Public School Choice

Public school choice provides parents the opportunity to select the public school that is best able to meet the needs of their child. The choices that are available to parents and their children vary widely from state to state and from school district to school district.  Provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act require that students in schools identified as being in need of improvement, corrective action, or restructuring be given the opportunity to enroll in another public school within their school district that is making adequate yearly progress.

Public school choice provides parents the opportunity to select the public school that is best able to meet the needs of their child. The choices that are available to parents and their children vary widely from state to state and from school district to school district. The range of choices available may include

• Magnet or theme-based schools,
• Charter schools,
• Privately managed public schools, and
• Other public schools located within the geographic area where the family lives or works but outside the child’s assigned school boundaries or in another district or system.

Provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act require that students in schools identified as being in need of improvement, corrective action, or restructuring be given the opportunity to enroll in another public school.

Magnet schools

Magnet schools are public schools with a specialized focus, curriculum, and/or instructional approach. Magnet schools were originally designed to promote desegregation in metropolitan areas. There are now more than 3,000 magnet or theme-based schools throughout the United States. Magnet schools attract students by offering unique course work, often with an identified specialty. These specialties range from performing arts to basic skills, from math and science to foreign languages, from technology to vocational careers, and may include everything in between. Some magnet high schools are focused on a proliferation of Advanced Placement (AP) classes or International Baccalaureate programs.

Magnet and theme-based schools are found in every level of the K–12 continuum. Parents, teachers, and other members of the community are often deeply involved in designing the actual school program, many times in response to identified needs of the community. For example, when a county in the Florida panhandle experienced a boom in the development of resort facilities, the local school system and a large resort in the county worked together to develop a magnet school for 11th- and 12th-graders to expose and train students in all aspects of the hospitality industry. The magnet school successfully integrated a core academic curriculum and career preparation.

Many magnet and theme-based schools are granted greater autonomy in some decisions governing curriculum and day-to-day operations than other schools within the same system are given. To ensure diversity, a variety of techniques are used in the selection of students: magnet and theme-based schools may use admission criteria; lotteries; first-come, first-served policies; reservations of slots for children from the surrounding neighborhoods; or other methods.

Charter schools

Charter schools are schools that operate under a contract, or charter, with local school boards or other governing agencies. This contract may free charter schools from many of the regulations with which other schools in the same school district must comply. The idea behind charter schools is that some regulations inhibit innovative or creative school reform efforts. As of 2004, 40 states and the District of Columbia had laws authorizing charter schools. Over 700,000 students in 39 states and the District of Columbia attended an estimated 3,000 charter schools during the 2004–2005 school year.

Charter schools are primarily located in metropolitan areas where the student population requires multiple public schools at each level of education. There are charter elementary, middle, and high schools. Some charter schools are also theme-based, offering a specialized focus, curriculum, or instructional approach. 

The rapid growth of charter schools has not been without controversy. Questions continue to be raised, particularly regarding fiscal and academic accountability and the diversity of student populations. Because parents are required to make a deliberate decision to apply to and enroll their children in charter schools, the schools are generally subject to a higher level of accountability to those parents. However, some inadequately monitored charter schools have failed to conduct background checks on faculty and staff, hired unqualified teachers, violated safety codes, and charged tuition. By law, charter schools are open to all students. Unfortunately, research indicates that charter school student populations are often more homogeneous in race and socioeconomic status, enroll fewer students with limited English proficiency, and enroll disproportionately fewer students with disabilities than traditional public schools within the same district. Efforts are being made to ensure that charter schools address these problems and provide a quality education for a broad range of students.

Privately managed public schools

In the past decade, the number of for-profit companies venturing into K–12 education has significantly increased. An increasing number of companies are engaged in the business of instruction, marketing services such as tutoring, curriculum counseling, academic enrichment classes, and private management of schools. The private management of schools by entities known as education management organizations (EMOs) is a relatively new trend. Companies such as Edison and Education Alternative, Inc., entered the school management business by offering to run schools more efficiently and provide innovative learning opportunities for students. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) (formerly the General Accounting Office) reports that there are about 20 major companies that manage approximately 300 public schools, mostly at the elementary and middle school levels.

Like charter schools, the privatization of public schools remains controversial. Advocates of traditional public schools warn that the expansion of for-profit involvement in public education calls for a more extensive examination of this trend and its consequences. Proponents of privatization argue that for-profit schools enhance competition and spur improvements among all schools. Yet, critics charge that for-profit schools seldom take students who are difficult or costly to educate, often targeting niche markets of parents interested in specific academic programs. Critics further charge that for-profit schools try to shape their enrollments by requiring applications and admissions interviews. A 2002 GAO report concludes that the research is insufficient to determine the effectiveness of private management of schools. Reports on student achievement are mixed and inconclusive. While some believe that EMOs are a positive school reform alternative, others fear that EMOs will be more accountable to investors than to parents and students.

Public schools outside assigned boundaries or in other school districts

Some schools are allowing parents to enroll their children in schools outside their assigned school boundaries or in other school districts. There are a variety of reasons for parents to seek this type of public school choice, including enrolling a student in a school closer to the parent’s employment, facilitating access to before- and after-school care, and allowing a student to participate in a unique course of academic work. When students attend public schools outside their assigned boundaries, their parents are almost always responsible for transporting them to and from school. (In contrast, charter and magnet schools provide student transportation.) In addition, if the placement is outside of the school district, the receiving school may charge tuition to cover either the full cost of educating the student or the portion of the cost paid for by local taxpayers. The rules regarding out-of-area enrollments are established and enforced by local school boards.

National PTA supports public school choice, and believes that public school choice can instill competition and competition’s inherent benefits into the education system without diverting taxpayer money to private schools.

National PTA supports the creation of innovative schools that are based on a set of principles designed to retain and enhance the integrity of public schools. National PTA is prepared to assist magnet, charter, and privately managed schools in meeting the academic, social, physical, and emotional needs of students through the creation of new PTAs. PTAs promote active parent involvement and provide access to PTA programs, services, and leadership.

Charter and privately managed public schools need to

• Be open to all students, including students with limited English proficiency, students with special needs, and students from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds.
• Comply with federal and state laws governing public schools, including laws regarding teacher qualifications, testing standards, and fiscal accountability.
• Adhere to federal, state, and local laws designed to ensure student health and safety.
• Be accountable to local school boards in the districts where they are located.
• Be funded in such a way as to preclude the charging of tuition or mandatory fees not charged by other public schools in the district.
• Be independent of nonpublic, sectarian, religious, or home-based school affiliations.
• Include parents in meaningful decision-making roles.

National PTA believes that any discussion of a privatization proposal must include a thorough evaluation of the proposal and must consider issues of accountability, parent and community involvement, quality of services, and public interest.

Talking Points

• National PTA supports public school choice that introduces competition and competition’s inherent benefits into the education system without diverting taxpayer money to private schools.
• National PTA is prepared to assist magnet, charter, and privately managed schools in meeting the needs of students.
• National PTA believes that efforts to privatize a school must consider issues of accountability, parent and community involvement, quality of services, and public interest.