Trends in the Use of School Choice, 1993 to 1999

Stacey Bielick · Christopher Chapman

Jan 2003 · Education Department

About this ebook

The National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES) provides a comprehensive set of information that may be used to estimate the use of school choice in the United States. In this country, school choice is primarily comprised of programs that allow students to attend any public school within or outside of their local school district, a magnet or charter school, a private school, or homeschool. This report examines data from three administrations or the NHES (1993, 1996, and 1999) in which children's parents were asked if their children attended their assigned public schools, public schools that they had chosen, private schools that are church-related, or private schools that are not church-related, and about their satisfaction and involvement within these schools. The report provides information about trends in the use and users of public schools of choice and private schools, and outcomes of these choices: parent satisfaction and involvement, and student plans for postsecondary education. The report also provides a brief analysis of homeschooled students. This report cannot answer questions about the availability of public school choice or other school choice programs. The report shows that the percentage of children enrolled in public, assigned schools for grades 1 through 12 decreased from 80% in 1993 to 76% in 1999. The decrease in public, assigned school enrollment was almost completely offset by an increase from 11 to 14% in public, chosen school enrollment. Enrollment in private, church-related schools remained relatively stable at 7 to 8% between 1993 and 1999, and enrollment in private, not church-related schools was about 2% in each year. An appendix contains tables of numbers. (Contains 4 figures, 11 tables, and 42 references.) (Author/SLD).