Fast Facts: Public school choice programs (6)

Public school choice programs

Question:
What percentage of students are enrolled in school choice programs?

Response:

Today, charter schools are the archetypical form of school choice available to parents within the public education sector; however, there is also opportunity for school choice among traditional public schools. In 2019, the parents of 42 percent of all students in grades 112 indicated that public school choice was available to them.

Percentage of students enrolled in grades 1 through 12 whose parents reported having public school choice, considered other schools, reported current school was their first choice, or moved to their current neighborhood for the public school, by school type and child's race/ethnicity: 2019
School type and race/ethnicity of child	Public choice available¹	Considered other schools	School was parent's first choice	Moved to neighborhood for public school²
Total	42.3	35.5	81.1	19.1
School type
Public, assigned³	31.2	28.8	80.2	21.6
Public, chosen³	100.0	53.8	81.5	8.8
Private, religious	23.2	49.1	89.5	†
Private, nonsectarian	23.3	71.2	85.6	†
Race/ethnicity of child
White	38.3	33.2	84.4	20.7
Black	46.2	41.5	73.6	16.4
Hispanic	49.0	36.7	79.7	15.8
Asian	38.7	35.4	80.4	29.4
Pacific Islander	20.8 !	31.0 !	59.5	19.9 !
American Indian/Alaska Native	40.8	40.9	82.4	13.9 !
Two or more races	41.3	35.6	79.8	18.2

† Not applicable.
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
¹ Students who attended chosen public schools were automatically coded as "yes" for whether or not their district allowed public school choice.
² This column shows percentages of public school students only. Private school students are excluded from the analysis.
³ Students with missing data on school type are excluded from this analysis.

NOTE: For the 2019 administration of the National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES), the majority of data were collected using a web-based survey instrument that respondents accessed with credentials they received in a mailed invitation. Paper surveys were used for nonresponse follow-up and for a small experiment. Excludes students with any homeschooling and 24 or fewer hours spent in a physical school building. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding and suppression of estimates that did not meet reporting standards.

SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics. (2021). Table 206.40. Percentage of students enrolled in grades 1 through 12 whose parents reported having public school choice, considered other schools, reported current school was their first choice, or moved to their current neighborhood for the public school, by school type and selected child and household characteristics: 2019. In Digest of education statistics. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved August 16, 2022, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d20/tables/dt20_206.40.asp.

In 2019, chosen public schools accounted for 17.3 percent of students enrolled in grades 1 through 12.

White students composed:

48 percent of students across all school types enrolled in grades 1 through 12.
38 percent of students in chosen public schools enrolled in grades 1 through 12.

Hispanic students composed:

26 percent of students across all school types enrolled in grades 1 through 12.
32 percent of students in chosen public schools enrolled in grades 1 through 12.

Black students composed:

14 percent of students across all school types enrolled in grades 1 through 12.
18 percent of students in chosen public schools enrolled in grades 1 through 12.

Asian students composed:

6 percent of students across all school types enrolled in grades 1 through 12.
6 percent of students in chosen public schools enrolled in grades 1 through 12.

Students of two or more races composed:

6 percent of students across all school types enrolled in grades 1 through 12.
5 percent of students in chosen public schools enrolled in grades 1 through 12.

Percentage distribution of students enrolled in grades 1 through 12, by control, public school type and charter status, and childs race/ethnicity: 2019
Selected child characteristic	Total, all schools	Public school, total	Public school type¹		Public school charter status²		Private school, total
Selected child characteristic	Total, all schools	Public school, total	Assigned	Chosen	Traditional³	Charter	Private school, total
Percentage distribution of all enrolled students, by school type and charter status	100.0	90.8	72.8	17.3	84.9	5.0	9.2
Percentage distribution of students in schools of each type or status, by characteristic
Total, all students	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Race/ethnicity of child
White	48.3	46.7	48.7	37.9	47.9	29.5	63.6
Black	13.6	14.0	13.0	18.3	13.4	24.5	10.1
Hispanic	25.8	26.9	25.6	32.4	26.1	38.3	14.9
Asian	5.7	5.7	5.7	5.9	5.7	4.7	5.4
Pacific Islander	0.3	0.3	0.4		0.3
American Indian/Alaska Native	0.5	0.6	0.6	0.4!	0.6
Two or more races	5.8	5.8	6.0	5.0	6.0	2.7	5.6

! Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
Reporting standards not met. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is 50 percent or greater.
¹ Students with missing data on whether their school was assigned or chosen were not included with assigned public schools or with chosen public schools; however, they were included in the public school totals and could still be accurately classified as either traditional or charter schools based on administrative data.
² Students with missing administrative data on whether their school was a charter school were not included with traditional public schools or with charter schools; however, they were included in the public school totals.
³ Includes all types of public noncharter schools.

NOTE: For the 2019 National Household Education Surveys Program, the majority of data were collected using a web-based survey instrument that respondents accessed with credentials they received in a mailed invitation. Paper surveys were used for nonresponse follow-up and for a small experiment. Data exclude homeschooled children who attended school in a physical building for 24 hours or less. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics. (2021). Table 206.30. Percentage distribution of students enrolled in grades 1 through 12, by public school type and charter status, private school orientation, and selected child and household characteristics: 2019. In Digest of education statistics. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved August 19, 2022, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d20/tables/dt20_206.30.asp.

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