Yesterday afternoon, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI) hosted a press conference to celebrate “the exceptional educational choices available in North Carolina’s public schools.” The press conference also served to launch the department’s new “Find Your Fit, Build Your Future” initiative.
Representatives from DPI pointed to various options available to students within the public education system, including charter schools, academically or intellectually gifted (AIG) programs, and career and technical education (CTE) initiatives. Attendees also heard from two members of the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council, both of whom attend early college high schools, and a parent of students in Durham County public schools.
National School Choice Week is a fitting time to celebrate all the educational options available to students and families throughout North Carolina, and it’s great to see DPI’s efforts to celebrate choice within the public school system.
There’s just one problem: North Carolina currently ranks last in the country when it comes to open enrollment, a policy that lets parents choose among traditional public schools.
Unlike CTE or specialized magnet programs, which provide individualized educational pathways at any given school, open enrollment focuses on expanding access to traditional public schools within or between districts. For more on how open enrollment provides opportunities for students and public schools, how North Carolina stacks up against other states, and how the public strongly supports open enrollment, see here, here, and here.
Unfortunately, North Carolina lags behind many other states on open enrollment. States like Florida, Oklahoma, and Idaho have adopted strong intradistrict open enrollment policies that allow students who attend traditional public schools to transfer to other schools within their home district. Following these states’ example would go a long way towards strengthening public school choice and cementing North Carolina as a leader in educational opportunity.
That would give DPI an even bigger reason to celebrate National School Choice Week!
