Authors' reference to “self selection” completely counters the foundation of school choiceWASHINGTON – Last week, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS) and the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) released a deeply flawed report for the country’s virtual public charter schools that undermines parent choice and empowerment, demands new enrollment caps that would arbitrarily lock students out of their public school of choice, and outlines recommendations for increased central control regulation of charter schools that will diminish parent choice.In the report, the authors claim that “self selection” – another term for parent choice – isn’t working, and they advocate for restricting a parent’s right to choose online schools for their children. The authors advocate that each state create "criteria for admission" to these charter schools that would supersede every parent's judgment and put bureaucrats in the driver’s seat of public school choice, which runs completely counter to one of the foundational principles of education reform: parent choice.The authors of the proposal also euphemistically call for new enrollment caps to achieve “desired enrollment levels,” which are completely arbitrary and reject the will of parents who wish to enroll their child in a particular school. Their use of the innocuous phrase “desired enrollment levels” masks a demand by self-labeled charter school advocates to reestablish massive charter school enrollment lotteries, replacing the trusted judgment of individual parents with unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats. Through new enrollment lotteries, thousands of children would be forced out of their charter schools in states across the country.Parents will be left to wonder: will my child be one of the lucky ones not kicked out and forced to find another option?STATEMENT FROM TILLIE ELVRUM, PUBLICSCHOOLOPTIONS.ORG PRESIDENT AND SCHOOL CHOICE ADVOCATE:“This report is a direct attack on parent choice and threatens the education of thousands of students. The authors are pushing policies that totally contradict a key pillar of education reform: parent choice. These groups owe every parent an apology for recommending such a reckless proposal that erodes the foundation of school choice.”PublicSchoolOptions.org is a national alliance of parents that supports and defends parents’ rights to access the best public school options for their children. The Coalition supports the creation of public school options, including charter schools, online schools, magnet schools, open enrollment policies and other innovative education programs. Additionally, we advocate for equal access without restrictions to these public schools for all children.

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