An Overview of School Choice: Charters, Magnets, Educational Savings Accounts, and More

Public school choice policies allow students to attend a public school of their choosing. The policies include options both within and outside the student’s public school district – known as open enrollment – as well as magnet schools and charter schools.

• Charter schools are the most popular form of public-school choice. They are tuition free and publicly funded and operate independently from the district. State laws define the requirements for charter schools and their authorizers – bodies that approve and monitor these schools. Students apply to enroll, and if there are more applicants than seats, then a lottery is conducted.

• Charter schools have more autonomy than traditional public schools and are often exempt from collective bargaining by special interest groups, which can enable innovative educational approaches. Since 1991, charter schools have grown to include more than 8,000 schools operating across the country. Currently, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Vermont are the only states without charter school policies. For more information, see the NAPCS Data Dashboard.

• Magnet schools: Created in the 1970s to help desegregate public schools, magnet schools are public schools of choice that attract students from across a district to specific programs such as the arts, languages, STEM, and gifted and talented programs. Some of these programs have admissions standards, and students typically apply to attend. Today, there are more than 4,340 magnet schools serving nearly 3.5 million students across 46 states and the District of Columbia.

• Open enrollment: These policies allow students to transfer out of their neighborhood school both within a district (intradistrict) and/or among districts (interdistrict). Minnesota passed the first such policy into law in 1988. Forty-six states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have at least one open enrollment policy, according to a 2022 analysis from the Education Commission of the States. Depending on the state, these programs can be mandatory, voluntary, or both for school districts. Alabama, Alaska, Maryland, and North Carolina are the only states that don’t have an open enrollment policy. See the ECS Dashboard for more information.

Private school choice policies allow families to use public funds to help pay for private education services and schools – including religious schools. There are currently 75 private school choice programs in 33 states and the District of Columbia, serving roughly a million students. (For more information, visit School Choice Matters.) These options include:

• Scholarships or vouchers: These programs provide public funding directly to families to attend private schools, often with income eligibility requirements. Fourteen states and Puerto Rico currently operate at least one state or local voucher program, and the federal government funds the DC Student Opportunity Scholarship Program.

• Tax-credit scholarships: These programs allow individuals and corporations to receive tax credits for donating to organizations that provide scholarships for private school tuition. Today, 22 states offer scholarship tax credits.

• Education tax credits and deductions: These policies reduce the cost of education by either directly lowering taxes owed (credits) or reducing taxable income (deductions). Nine states offer education tax credits, and four offer education tax deductions.

• Homeschooling: Some families choose to educate their children at home. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico allow homeschooling, although state requirements vary. In some states, homeschoolers can participate in some public-school activities and online education programs.

• Education Savings Accounts (ESAs): Originally set up to allow individuals to save for future education expenses with tax advantages – such as tax-free growth or tax-deductible contributions – ESAs have more recently become the most popular state mechanism for expanding educational options (including access to private schools). First enacted in Arizona in 2011, ESAs are state-funded individual accounts that parents can use to purchase educational services, such as tutoring, textbooks, private school tuition, and online or community college courses. To access ESA funds, students must meet eligibility standards which may give priority to students with disabilities or those from lower-income households.

• Almost half of the 1 million students enrolled in private school choice programs today access funds through ESAs. Because ESAs can be used to fund a broad range of services, they are popular but, depending on how the funding is allocated and how expansive the program is, can be more expensive and harder to manage. For more information on them see this WestEd report.

1. Parent empowerment: School choice gives parents more control over a child’s education, allowing them to select schools that align with their values, needs, and preferences. Parents can also choose schools that offer specialized programs, such as STEM, arts, or special education, which may be better suited to their child’s specific needs, interests, and learning style.

2. Increased access: School choice can provide opportunities for students from different socioeconomic backgrounds to attend schools that may not otherwise be available to them in their district.

3. Alternative to underperforming schools: Nearly 500 schools across the country are chronically underperforming, according to the Fordham Institute. Further, the National Center for Education Statistics estimates that roughly 32% of public school students were behind grade level in at least one subject at the end of the 2023-24 school year. School choice gives students in underperforming schools the option to attend better-performing schools that are more likely to graduate students prepared for college, employment, or the military.

4. Competition: With more options available, schools may feel pressure to improve instruction and activities to attract and retain students, potentially raising school performance overall.

5. Freedom to innovate: Because they operate outside of traditional districts, charter and private choice schools may have more freedom to experiment with different curricula, teaching methods, and learning environments, which could lead to better student outcomes.

6. Increased flexibility: Homeschooling and some charter and private school choice options can provide students with alternative forms of schooling, which may work better for their unique needs.

1. Inequitable access: Depending on state policies, school choice may disadvantage families who cannot easily afford transportation to school, full tuition, or other uncovered costs. Private choice schools may also have admissions standards, making it harder for students from low-performing schools to qualify if they are behind.

2. Logistical barriers: Charters and private choice schools may not be available to families in rural and other under-resourced areas.

3. Negative impact on public schools: District schools lose funding when students leave to attend a charter or private choice school, which may lead to cuts in resources, staffing, and programs at neighborhood schools.

4. Quality and accountability concerns: Private choice schools may not be subject to the same level of regulation and accountability as public schools, potentially leading to inconsistencies in educational quality.

5. Lack of oversight: Federal law requires states to administer a statewide annual assessment in every public school across the country, including charters. These assessments provide parents, policymakers and others with critical information about student learning outcomes and the impact of public dollars in public schools. Private choice schools are generally not required to administer the same standardized tests or adhere to the same accountability standards, making it difficult to track the impact of tax dollars. Private schools are also not subject to the same federal civil rights protections that safeguard students and staff in public school settings.

6. Governance: Because education funding tends to follow students, decision-making power shifts from the publicly elected school boards that oversee district schools to the non-profit organizations that typically run charter and private choice schools. Those campuses are primarily accountable to the families they serve rather than the broader community.

7. Religious instruction: Perhaps the most contentious aspect of private school choice is whether these schools should be able to provide religious instruction. The constitutionality of using public funds to support students attending religious schools is complex and depends on how a state’s constitution addresses the separation of church and state.

• However, recent Supreme Court decisions have successfully challenged laws that prohibit religious educational institutions from accessing the public dollars that other nonreligious organizations can. Currently, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board v. Drummond and St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond, which address whether a religious institution can run a charter school. For more information see ECS dashboard, EdChoice, and AFC.