School choice programs allow parents to enroll children in the best schools, public or private, to suit their educational needs, rather than simply accepting the school serving the geographic location where a family lives.   

Wealthier families have exercised school choice for decades, buying homes or renting apartments based on the qualifications of the school district serving the area.  In most instances, a better school district means a wealthier zip code, with competitive and expensive housing and rental markets.             

For the low-income families of New York school choice is often out of reach.  Those who cannot afford a home in a great school district are left with the only schools free-of-charge to them, in many cases failing urban districts that have not improved in years. 

School choice programs seek to eradicate this discrepancy between economic circumstances and allow all families access to high quality schools, and can be encouraged through many public policy mechanisms, including: charter schools, magnet schools, open enrollment school districts, scholarships, tax credits, and vouchers. 

All parents should have the right to a high quality education for their children.  Until all schools everywhere are succeeding—a noble and desirable goal—school choice advocates will be fighting to give parents, especially low-income parents, the tools to give their children a fair shot at a great education.  

Parents in New York and across the country are demanding school choice options for their children. 

An excellent resource for more on this topic, including current research on school choice, classic works by economists and scholars such as Thomas Paine and Adam Smith, criticisms of school choice, and resources for school choice activists, is the site www.schoolchoices.org by Andrew Coulson. 

Debra Hare Fitzpatrick, Ilene Berman, “Providing Quality Choice Options in Education,” National Governor’s Association Center for Best Practices; Center for School Change, August 19, 2005.

The National Governor’s Association report on School Choice identifies and reviews a variety of school choice options and public policies, including charter schools, magnet schools, inter- and intra-district transfer options, college courses for high schools students, vouchers and tax credits, and distance learning. The report also includes information about prominent school choice research, and makes recommendations on how to best increase educational quality using choice tools.