As Director of the Department of Education, I have strongly supported the concept of parent choice in public education, and I will continue to do so. Research on existing choice programs indicates that they improve parent participation into the schools, empower teachers as academic leaders, shift greater decision making to smaller administrative units, and produce encouragement for dropouts to return to school. They also create a revitalization and enthusiasm among many teachers involved in the programs. I am confident that parent choice in Iowa will result in greater effectiveness, efficiency, creativity, and accountability in our schools.
The following points cover the major provisions of the Iowa open enrollment legislation:
For the 1989-1990 School Year:
* Parents/guardians who have been paying tuition for their children to attend a public school district other than their district of residence may continue these students in this program with the per-pupil cost paid by the resident district. * Parents/guardians who move out of a district anytime during the 1988-1989 school year may return their students to this district under open enrollment with the new district of residence paying the per-pupil costs of education.
Beginning with the 1990-1991 School Year:
* Parents/guardians must notify their district of residence of their intention to enroll a child in another public school district no later than November 1 of the preceding school year. * Parents/guardians must describe a reason for enrolling in another district that does not exist in the district of residence.
* During the 1990-1991 school year, districts may limit the number of students who transfer out to 5 percent of the district's previous year's certified enrollment. During the 1991-1992 school year the transfers may be limited to 10 percent of the previous year's certified enrollment.
* Receiving districts must accept students unless they have insufficient classroom space; all districts must adopt a policy defining "insufficient classroom space".
* A request for transfer may be refused if the enrollment or release of a student would adversely affect a district's desegregation plan. * Generally, students in grades 9-12 who transfer will not be eligible for interscholastic athletics for the first year, with a few exceptions.
* The district of residence is required to pay the receiving district an amount equal to the lower per-pupil cost of the two districts.
* Special education students may transfer if the receiving district has an appropriate program and if rules governing maximum class size would not be exceeded. The district of residence pays the actual cost incurred.
* Parents/guardians, in general, must transport students at their cost to a point on a regular bus route of the receiving district.
* Districts subject to voluntary or court-ordered desegregation plans may delay participation until the 1991-1992 school year in order to develop implementation polices.
The State Board and Department of Education have specific responsibilities under the Act. The State Board must adopt rules needed for the implementation of the legislation. Also, parents/guardians may appeal a local board decision concerning open enrollment to the State Board. The Department of Education must conduct a three-year study of the implementation and report annually to the general assembly through 1993.I view open enrollment as a school improvement strategy. The concept of parent choice introduces competition into public education that can only result in improvements that state mandates will never achieve. Parent choice eliminates the monopoly of the district of residency, and it gives local school boards the challenge, and more important the opportunity, to provide high quality programs. The goal of choice is not only to allow students to transfer to another district to find a program better suited to their needs, but also to induce districts and schools to improve education for the many students who choose not to move.
We face many challenges in the next several months in implementing open enrollment in Iowa. Such a change needs a phase-in period so that it is evolutionary, not revolutionary. Parents need to be informed. Local boards and the State Board need to adopt policies and implement rules. Appeal provisions and processes need to be established. Questions need to be answered, particularly regarding safeguards in the areas of racial balance, extracurricular athletics, transportation, availability of classroom space and staff, and application processes and restrictions.I am firmly convinced that the majority of school districts in Iowa accept and can meet the challenge of parent choice. For those few districts that can't accept or meet the challenge, I think the outcome is clear.