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ISSUES > Education > School Choice
ABOUT THE STATE PROFILES
The State Profiles included in this Web site provide snapshots of school choice options and an overview of the public and private education system in each state. This section explains the terms and sources of information used in each of these State Profiles.
School Choice Status
The extent of school choice available in each state is described with respect to the following elements:
Public school choice and enrollment options. Specific types of public school choice and enrollment options include the following:
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Interdistrict choice programs allow parents to send their child to a school in another district;
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Intradistrict choice programs allow parents to choose among public schools within the district;
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Mandatory open enrollment requires districts to permit students to transfer; and
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Voluntary open enrollment permits, but does not require, districts to allow students school choice. In states with voluntary open enrollment, parents may have to obtain permission from the sending and receiving districts and/or pay tuition. In most states, the local board determines intradistrict policies.
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Restrictions regarding funding for religious schools. Two types of restrictive language prohibiting the use of public money to fund religious institutions can be found in state constitutions: Blaine amendments and compelled-support language.
- Blaine amendments to state constitutions are adaptations (or, in some cases, precursors) of a narrowly defeated amendment to the U.S. Constitution proposed in 1875 by then-Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives James G. Blaine. Blaine’s amendment, targeting parochial schools that were viewed by some as a threat to a then-emerging public school system, prohibited the use of public funds for sectarian schools. Blaine amendments were once a prerequisite for consideration for statehood and were incorporated in the constitutions of 37 states.
- Compelled-support language dates back to colonial times and was intended to prevent governments from compelling individuals to contribute to or attend a state-designated church. Twenty-nine states have such language in their constitutions.
Only three states (Louisiana, Maine, and North Carolina) have neither a Blaine amendment nor compelled-support language.
Charter school laws. Descriptions of the strength of states’ charter school laws are based on rankings by the Center for Education Reform (CER), a free-market public policy organization that tracks and ranks school choice developments in the states. Considerations used in CER rankings include (1) the number of charter schools permitted; (2) the number of chartering authorities; (3) types of eligible charter applicants; (4) whether “new starts” are allowed; (5) whether evidence of local support is a prerequisite for creating a charter school; (6) whether charters are given automatic waivers from state and district laws and regulations governing public schools; (7) the amount of legal and operational authority charters are given; (8) guaranteed full per-pupil funding; (9) whether charters have fiscal autonomy; and (10) the exemption of charter schools from collective bargaining agreements and district work rules.
Publicly funded private school choice. This category notes whether a state has publicly funded programs that enhance education options (including financial assistance to attend private or religious schools) through vouchers or scholarships, tax credits for education expenditures, and/or tax credits for individual or corporate donations to tuition scholarship organizations.
Home-school law. This section describes the restrictions and requirements a state places on home schoolers regarding such issues as the notification of government officials, requirements to take standardized state achievement tests or undergo professional evaluation, curriculum approval, parents’ teaching qualifications, and mandated home visits by state officials. State notification requirements are ranked as no notice required, low regulation, moderate regulation, or high regulation, as follows:
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- No notice required: Parents are not required to notify the state of their intention to homeschool.
- Low regulation: Parents need only notify the state or district of their intention to homeschool.
- Moderate regulation: Parents must give notification, report test scores, and/or be subject to professional evaluation of student achievement.
- High regulation: Parents must give the state notification, report test scores, and/or submit to professional evaluations and approval or home visits by state officials.
- Source: Home School Legal Defense Association, at www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp.
Sources of School Information
Public school enrollment.
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Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, “Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2002-2003," April 2005, p. 10, at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005353.pdf.
Students enrolled per teacher.
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Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, National Center for Education Statistics, “Early Estimates of Public Elementary and Secondary Education Statistics: School Year 2001-02,” April 2002, p. 9, at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002311.pdf.
Number of schools.
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Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, National Center for Education Statistics, “Overview of Public Elementary and Secondary Schools and Districts: School Year 2000-01,” May 2002, Table 1, at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/2002356.pdf.
Number of districts.
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Source: National Education Association, “Rankings and Estimates: Rankings of the States 2003 and Estimates of School Statistics 2004,” NEA Research, May 2004, at www.nea.org/edstats/images/04rankings.pdf, p. 11.
Current expenditures.
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Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, “Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2002-2003," April 2005, p. 8, at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005353.pdf.
Current per-pupil expenditure.
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Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, “Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2002-2003," April 2005, p. 10, at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005353.pdf.
Amount of revenue from the federal government.
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Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, “Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education: School Year 2002-2003," April 2005, p. 7, at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005353.pdf..
Number of teachers.
Teachers’ average salary.
Private school enrollment, number of schools, and number of teachers.
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Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, “Characteristics of Private Schools in the United States: Results from the 2001-2002 Private School Universe Survey,” October 2004 at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2005/2005305.pdf (April 11, 2005).
Measures of Academic Performance
Percent of Schools Making Adequate Yearly Progress.Under the No Child Left Behind Act, states must measure how many of their public schools are making adequate yearly progress (AYP). This measurement is an important one for advocates of school choice because parents of children in schools that have not made AYP for two consecutive years can take their children out of these schools and move them to a school of choice.
NAEP test results show how 4th and 8th grade students in public schools performed on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) exams in math, reading, and science, with national percentages provided in parentheses. Students achieve at four levels: Below Basic, Basic, Advanced, or Proficient. Not all states participated in each test. No state results for the state 2000 reading assessments are available.
SAT and ACT weighted ranks (2002) indicate a state’s ranking based on the average scores of students on the predominant test (either the SAT or ACT) administered in the state.
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Source: American Legislative Exchange Council, Report Card on American Education: A State-by-State Analysis, 1981-2003, September 2004, at www.alec.org.
Academic Achievement Ranking is based on students’ Grade 8 NAEP scores, ACT scores, and SAT scores.
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Source: American Legislative Exchange Council, Report Card on American Education: A State-by-State Analysis, 1981-2003, September 2004, at www.alec.org.
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