Glossary

No More Lines.

The institutions that should bring us together are dividing us.  We must end government-sponsored policies that encourage and perpetuate social divisions of class and race.  Public schools are gatekeepers of opportunity – and it’s critical that they do not contribute to social separation by arbitrarily assigning students to schools based on home address.  The practice of residential assignment is an intentional public policy decision that results in opportunity for some kids and a barrier for others.

Terms:

Intradistrict enrollment

Intradistrict enrollment policies allow students to transfer to another school inside of their resident school district.

Interdistrict enrollment

Interdistrict enrollment policies allow students to transfer to another school outside of their resident school district.

State Designations:

Open enrollment (Mandatory)

These states mandate both intradistrict and interdistrict open enrollment.

Open enrollment

These states permit both intradistrict and interdistrict open enrollment on a mandatory and/or voluntary basis. 

Some open enrollment

These states permit both intradistrict and interdistrict open enrollment but generally on a voluntary basis. 

Limited open enrollment

These states permit either intradistrict or interdistrict open enrollment, but often do not have both specified in state policy.

No open enrollment

These states do not permit intradistrict and interdistrict open enrollment, or do not specify in state policy.