This study identified the capitalization effects of public school choice programs, using data on an inter-district, open enrollment program in Minnesota. The study examined changes in property tax bases in Minnesota as a result of the shift from local monopolies of public schooling to open enrollment. It investigated the effect of transferring…

Presents three major areas of concern: social and ethnic stratification; the impact of competition; and open enrollment effects on academic achievement. Explores what is presently known (and not known) about the impact of interdistrict open enrollment in three areas. Focuses on the effect of open enrollment in Minnesota, which has been the site of…

Minnesota is leading the school choice movement, but Governor Perpich's promotional tours may be somewhat premature. This article examines the open enrollment concept and its consequences, including charges of elitism and application of private enterprise principles to education. Open enrollment contradicts the legislature's duty to establish a…

In recent years, many policy makers, including officials in the Federal Government and the National Governors' Association, have advocated public school choice as the answer to the problems of public education. In 1987, Minnesota was the first state to pass legislation implementing a statewide, interdistrict, open enrollment plan for public…

Minnesota has several types of school choice options available to its 750,000 students: open enrollment, second-chance programs, postsecondary enrollment options, and charter schools. Survey data show that the families of special-needs students are increasingly using the open-enrollment option and are satisfied with their choices. Students with…

The federal government is devoting millions of dollars to charter and voucher programs that currently require parents to abandon regular public schools. The goal of the authors of The School Choice Hoax is to expose the misleading hyperbole that has been driving the school choice movement and to show how charter schools can become more effective…

In the United Kingdom the number of parents appealing rejection of their preference for their child's school has risen considerably. Suggests dissatisfaction with the new market-based system. Possible causes are discussed. (Contains 2 tables, 7 figures, and 23 references.) (MLF)

Choice can potentially transform schooling if it is properly understood, carefully thought through, and implemented in stages. Genuine diversity means offering parents and students a range of educational options from preschool through high school. However, the U.S. currently spends more on one Stealth bomber than on all magnet school programs.…

Responding to Joe Nathan's praise of Minnesota's school choice programs in the same "Kappan" issue, this article cites teacher opinion poll deficiencies; mistaken correlations involving open enrollment, rural district cooperation, and enabling state legislation; and insufficient program implementation and evaluation data. The hidden…

Arguments for and against school choice are presented. Claims on both sides often obscure the complexities, dilemmas, and tradeoffs involved. If diversity and choice become ends in themselves, if choice is not coupled with fundamental reform and the quest for excellence, the choices may be empty ones. (Author/VM)

Findings of a study that examined parental reactions to the implementation of Minnesota's statewide open-enrollment program are presented in this paper. Data were derived from telephone interviews conducted with 162 parents at the end of the 1989-90 school year. A three-way multivariate research design with eight dependent variables was used to…

Parents of children with disabilities (n=80) or giftedness (n=19) commented on their children's participation in an open enrollment program. Twelve broad topics were identified by the Minnesota parents, including teacher/administration attitude, transportation/location, programs for special needs students, student's attitude and behavior change,…

A survey of students at three Ohio high schools explored reasons for movement to other schools through state-legislated open-enrollment provisions. Response analysis identified five trends: students with unmet expectations, students with fulfilled expectations, students seeking safety, students desiring to stay at their "home school,"…

Currently 15 percent of K-12 students attend public schools of choice, including charter, magnet, and controlled-choice schools. Support for choice is growing, but a recent report says 81 percent of adults surveyed know little about charters or vouchers. Profiles of successful choice schools are presented. (MLH)

Findings of a study that examined school organizational change associated with the implementation of open enrollment in Minnesota are presented in this paper. Data were derived from mailed surveys completed by 126 principals at the end of the 1989-90 school year. A three-way multivariate research design with seven dependent variables was used to…