2025 was a dramatic year for school choice in Texas. But educational reform doesn’t stop here.
The Legislature passed the state’s first private school choice program — a nearly-universal education savings account that will enable at least 100,000 Texas families to use public funds for higher education expenses, tutoring, testing services, educational therapies, online courses, textbooks, school uniforms, and private school tuition.
School choice advocates rightfully celebrate this incredible achievement. But private school choice programs like education savings accounts are necessary but insufficient for true educational freedom in Texas. No matter one’s feelings about the public school system in general, it is undeniable that the majority of families are always going to choose it. In all 50 states — even those with robust school choice programs — most families attend public schools. In Texas, it’s more than 81 percent of the student population.
Nevertheless, Texas can enhance educational choice for parents who desire some kind of public education. Just because parents want public education doesn’t mean that parents want the specific public school their school district assigns them. Although districts in Texas choose their enrollment policies, many prohibit non-resident students from entering the district, or even prevent students from transferring from one school within the district to another. This is often for nefarious reasons, like race, social class, or even disability status.
This presents an obvious solution. SB 686, which has already been approved by the Texas Senate, and is now in the House, would allow students to transfer to any public school in the state (with available seats) free of charge. It would also require the state and school districts to provide families information regarding “when, where, and how to apply for a transfer.” This would help Texans in more ways than one.
First, open enrollment is more accessible for the average family. One of the biggest problems with universal private school choice programs is that while extensive information about those programs is often available, parents do not always know how to access them. Whether it is because a given state’s resources are opaque, or the programs themselves are terrible at marketing, many families may be unaware of, or lack a clear incentive to pursue, private choice options.
Open enrollment, on the other hand, is much more accessible. A family may not want to go through the trouble of finding the right private school, but they may know of a school on the other side of their district where they would be happy to enroll their children. In other words, a family dissatisfied with Plano Senior High School could simply transfer to Plano West, or even Frisco ISD, without needing to move. Moreover, district communications already know how to get in touch with parents, and SB 686 would require them to do so.
This sort of approach would be a boon for all families. If only one school in a particular district has a competitive debate team, parents could simply enroll their children at that school. If a parent’s workplace and child’s assigned school are far apart, that parent could choose a school more convenient for them. If a student has special needs, a parent would have maximum flexibility to select a district with adequate services to help them. Rural families also clearly like the idea — in Wisconsin, 52% of students in open enrollment programs are from rural areas.
But open enrollment’s benefits aren’t just for families — they benefit schools too. As early as 1776, economist Adam Smith argued that competition between publicly-financed schools could create a curriculum meant to both develop students’ abilities and improve society in general, offer teachers an additional incentive to approach their jobs with greater vigor, and give the population a candid account of what schools can and cannot accomplish.
Though research on educational open enrollment is limited, what data we do have tells us that Smith was on to something. A 2017 study out of Minnesota found that a statewide open enrollment program generated a slight improvement in student achievement. A 2024 study out of Massachusetts had similar findings, noting that students who participated in an open enrollment program were 17% more likely to go to college. Open enrollment can prevent school closures too — Scottsdale, Arizona once struggled for students, but now it is raising more money than ever, in large part because of the 21% of its student body who transferred in.
Texas’ experiment with private school choice is necessary, but not enough to ensure that every family has maximum flexibility to choose an educational option right for their kid. Open enrollment fills that void by providing clear benefits to both families and schools. SB 686 would shatter the barriers blocking families from the public school of their choice.