Advocates of “education choice” sometimes use the term to refer specifically to private education policies, such as education savings accounts, tax credit scholarships, or vouchers. At other times, the term is used more generically to include all choices, including public options.
To more successfully advance the broad concept forward, the latter is a better use of the term. Education choice is a principle, not just a policy. And public education choice should be heralded as a means of sustaining that principle.
Furthermore, a majority of families choose to enroll their children in their state’s public education system, and they also need options.
When we value public schooling choices, we also acknowledge a more accurate purpose of education, which is to help students learn by serving their parents’ role and responsibility to guide their child’s education. This, ultimately, requires choices for parents. Here are some key facts to consider when thinking about the value of public education choices and their future role in parent-driven education.
Public charter schools
Public charter schools are independently run public schools that are granted flexibility to innovate, so long as they meet the requirements outlined in their charter, which serves as a contract with the state.
As of the 2022-23 school year, there were over 8,100 charter schools in the nation, serving 3.7 million students. As of the fall 2021-2022 school year, 7% of U.S. students were enrolled by their parents in public charter schools.
In Utah, during the 2024 school year, over 12% of Utah public school students were in charter schools. Additionally, over the past few school years, charter school enrollment has grown. October 2025’s growth is projected to be up by 2%. While district enrollment declines, charter school enrollment growth shows the importance and popularity of this public education choice for families.
Charter schools give parents real options in terms of schooling approach or learning emphasis for their children. While charter schools can be anywhere, these schools are often intentionally located in urban locations and serve students that qualify for free and reduced lunch. This means that they also serve a demographic that might otherwise have less access to education choices.
Open enrollment
Open enrollment is a policy that allows for choice among traditional public district schools, either within their district or outside it. Essentially, when parents or students discuss transferring or obtaining a boundary exemption, they are typically referring to this important type of public education choice.
Gathering data on how many students use open enrollment as education choice is a bit of challenge, but the Reason Foundation, in a 2025 report, estimated that over 1.6 million students across 19 states used open enrollment to attend a school that was not the one they were assigned to by their zip code (the traditional assignment method).
Utah has a strong open enrollment law that mandates school districts accept students applying to schools so long as there is capacity. Unfortunately, it is impossible to know how many parents use open enrollment to find a school for their children because there is a lack of awareness and compliance with the open enrollment law, and no data reporting requirement at the state level.
However, open enrollment is a key choice for families who still want their children in a public school but who need to find a better fit for the family, access a program of interest for their student, avoid bullying, and many other reasons.
Online options
According to School Choice Week data, 36 states and D.C. have established online public schools.
Utah offers the Statewide Online Education Program, which provides families with options for their children in grades 6-12 to take six credits per year online through an approved online provider (of which there are six online providers). While estimates for how many students it serves in total are challenging to find, we can assume it’s many thousands, since one of the six online providers reports that it alone serves over 10,000 students in the state.
The good thing about online public options is the increased flexibility of time and place for families and their children. In many instances, this allows children to craft an education around other parts of learning or life that reflect their unique interests.
Recommendation
All education choice options – private and public – add value to parents who are the decision-makers for their children’s education. Even in the wake of legal challenges to private education policies like the Utah Fits All Scholarship program, Sutherland Institute recommends policies to facilitate public education options, including through better compliance with existing laws, one-stop shop platforms that show parents their public education options in real time, and policies that allow for natural expansion of programs to make space for more students. Together, this can help ensure our public education system continues to hold value for the many families that already use it.
Sutherland Institute policy intern Dallyn Edmunds contributed research to this report.
