Utah’s unique opportunity in open enrollment policy

• Utah is a leader in open enrollment law, but it should consider establishing a statewide one-stop shop that provides information and functionality for families seeking open enrollment options.
• School districts in Utah need to comply with data reporting already required by law.

​The Beehive State is often recognized as the #1 state in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report. In education, the state is ranked #4 among all states. And according to a group that ranks open enrollment laws, Utah is among a few states that have earned an A for the strength of its policy.

Utah is a leader.

Still, we’ve noted in the past that Utah has a lot of work to do to ensure compliance with its strong law.

If Utah can achieve compliance with data reporting, it can seize another unique leadership opportunity: creating a robust, statewide one-stop shop for parents seeking open enrollment in traditional district public schools.

You can read the full report with all policy recommendations in an upcoming report this Fall.

What is the purpose of an open enrollment one-stop shop?

The goal of creating a statewide one-stop shop platform for open enrollment data and options is to help parents exercise their constitutional right and personal responsibility in guiding the education of their children. This includes options within the public education system as well as private options.

Ideally, a one-stop shop platform would improve both (1) awareness of public-school options and (2) ease of access to those options.

Such a platform could share details like statewide law on open enrollment, the application deadlines (which are standardized across the state for district school open enrollment), district-specific open enrollment policies, school-by-school enrollment information currently required by statute to be posted on districts’ websites, clear labels about which schools have availability and district-specific application forms. It could also host additional information that parents find valuable in making a decision about a school, such as performance measures on tests, spending data, or links to approved district curriculum information.

Though local control would remain through individual district policies and choices, a central hub on open enrollment information would bring clarity to an option that sometimes frustrates families.

Common features for a one-stop shop platform

After reviewing a variety of similar platforms across the country, we noted that most one-stop shop education platforms pick between certain key features, each of which has its pros and cons.

Platforms are usually either (1) more informational or more functional in purpose (for instance, they offer direct assistance or applications); (2) they are sponsored by a non-profit or the government (usually a school district); (3) they offer information for parents statewide or for a specific region (usually a school district); and (4) they focus their mission on all education choice options or a specific subset of choices like charter schools or open enrollment.

Organizations and Utah reformers have already stepped into this space to offer valuable information to parents seeking charter schools nearby, details and resources about the Utah Fits All scholarship, and information on eligible providers for families receiving a Utah Fits All Scholarship funds. These Utah resources are all statewide in scope and specific to a program or subset of education choice. Two are entirely separate from government, which increases the flexibility of vision and use (though one was chosen by the state to administer the Utah Fits All Scholarship program). Furthermore, each has a differing degree of functionality for families, such as search bars, contact information, or a marketplace to choose among providers.

Recommendation

For Utah families to access the promises of its strong open-enrollment law, we recommend creating a statewide, open-enrollment-specific, one-stop-shop platform hosted by a nonprofit that offers as many functional components as possible. This will require compliance with current law. But we believe such a platform will add clarity for parents, ease for families, and awareness for districts about what they must provide.