Today, ES released a Charts You Can Trust (a Maps You Can Trust, really) showing the failures of Massachusetts' interdistrict choice program--failures which mean that affluent students are more likely to benefit from the interdistrict choice law. Problems with the law include a lack of transportation to get students to their new schools; a lack of outreach to parents to inform them of their new options; and allowing school districts to opt-out of the program, which means that only one of the districts surrounding Boston has opened its doors to new students.
These problems are not unique to Massachusetts. Many states with open enrollment laws that allow students to cross attendance boundaries and school district lines to attend the school of their choice have similar shortcomings--and similar results.
But this isn't to say that interdistrict choice can't be done well--it can, but it costs more money to provide transportation and outreach to families. And it means making the politically difficult decision to require all districts to participate. As we reported a couple weeks ago, interdistrict choice has potential to help students in some areas, but there are limits to what it can achieve and it needs to be done well to avoid the pitfalls of policies like Massachusetts'.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment