The graphic below from Step Up For Students got quite a bit of attention when it first came out, but I still think it deserves a bigger splash. As shown in the image, 51% of all K-12 students in Florida are now choosing a school other than their zoned neighborhood school. This is a big deal for a few reasons.
Most important is the headline number. There has been so much talk about school choice, education savings accounts, private school vouchers, and so forth, that it can be easy to forget that the large majority of students across the US still attend a school in their district of residence. The most recent (2019) NCES data I could find relatively easily shows 71% of students attending their zoned school and another 17% attending a “chosen” public school, which could be a charter, magnet, or other school. That has certainly changed in the intervening years, as the pandemic seemed to spur a shift towards homeschooling, microschools, and other options.
At the same time, the shift has sometimes been overstated. One key example is with Educational Savings Accounts, which have been getting lots of attention, but are currently funding about 1% of all students—and many of those students appear to have been formerly homeschooled. That’s an important change for those families who are now receiving public funds, but not a big shift for education overall.
But as the graphic shows, in Florida the shift is happening. Step Up For Students used Florida Department of Education data to show that more than half (51%) of students are attending a school other than their zoned school. This is a major accomplishment not just on its own, but for three other reasons:
- It provides a foreshadowing for what other states that have charter schools and extensive ESA and/or voucher programs may see in a few years.
- It provides a roadmap for states that are considering going in this direction, but haven’t yet. This is true of some states that have passed ESA laws that are restricted to a relatively small percentage of students.
- Perhaps most importantly, it represents a normalizing of the idea that students and families will choose their schools. Florida may already be well past the tipping point at which a common question is “where is your child being educated?” with the expected answers including homeschooling and private schools as well as charter schools and the local school.
Another important aspect of the numbers is in how many students are attending a district school of choice. If you totaled the numbers of students choosing a district open enrollment plus students enrolling in career and professional academies, that would be the single largest category in the infographic. It appears that in Florida, the theory that school districts will respond to competition is playing out.
Thanks to Step Up For Students for putting out this infographic. There’s so much hype around school choice and ESAs, that publicizing some data to demonstrate what’s actually happening is incredibly valuable.
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