Report: Parents in Florida Have Limited Say in Children's School Placement
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
By: Carmel Delshad

January 8th, 2014 | WMFE - Florida students don't have much choice regarding where they go to school. That's according to a new report from the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institute, which ranks K-12 school choice in America's 100 largest school districts.

The Education Choice and Competition Index puts most Florida schools in the “C” range.

Russ Whitehurst, the author of the report, says parents have some choice in where they put their kids in school--but there’s still room for improving the types of schools available to students, or adding an open-enrollment program within districts.

“The problem with a system that doesn’t involve choice is if you’re stuck in one of the circumstances in which the schools are bad,  all of your freedom has been taken away from you," Whitehurst says.

The report looks at the variation in district-level school choices. The highest ranking school districts give parents maximum choice between strong public schools, magnet schools, charter schools, affordable private schools and virtual education, among other criteria.

Volusia, Seminole, Orange and Brevard school districts got “C”s. Osceola received an “F” grade.