Wherever there is a public school that has limited capacity and excess demand, there will be the incentive for school and district employees to cherry pick the students. Available To All is dedicated to holding public schools to standards of legality and fairness in their enrollment decisions, ensuring that all American families have an equal opportunity to attend the best public schools.
The Issues
End educational redlining
Display: None;
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
In America today, district boundaries and attendance zones are the primary means by which children are excluded from public schools.
These policies of geographic discrimination are an extension of the racist redlining policies of our nation’s past, turning our best public schools into quasi-private schools only open to the wealthy who can afford homes in the zones. Educational redlining undermines the American social contract and violates the sacred mission of the public schools to provide every child access to the American dream.
Available To All will work to enforce existing laws that limit school districts’ ability to discriminate against families based on where they live. We will advocate for laws that reduce the importance of these artificial boundaries. And we will work toward a future in which no child will be denied enrollment at a public school because of where their family lives.
Remove loopholes from Open Enrollment laws
Display: None;
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Many states have Open Enrollment laws that allow students to apply to a public school different from the one they’ve been assigned to. However, most Open Enrollment laws have significant loopholes that limit the public’s access to public schools.
For example, participation is voluntary, so that districts or individual schools can choose not to accept Open Enrollment applications. In some states, districts are allowed to charge tuition or other fees to students who apply via the Open Enrollment process. Finally, “space available” exceptions often provide districts with the legal cover to enforce educational redlining.
Available To All will work to reform the Open Enrollment laws so that they fulfill the promise of making the public schools open to all comers.
Ensure equal access for kids with disabilities
Display: None;
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Children with disabilities should not be excluded from any public school because of their disability or the existence of an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
Available To All will work to ensure that all public schools give an equal opportunity for enrollment to all students, regardless of their disability status.
Enforce existing laws on lotteries, waitlists, & assignment algorithms
Display: None;
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Charter schools, magnet schools, and other specialized public schools are governed by laws that require that they be open to all students and hold lotteries for open seats.
While many schools comply scrupulously with the laws, other schools try to subvert the law and cherry pick their students by requiring auditions or even having quotas for students of certain races. Available To All will fight to require school districts and charter school operators to comply with existing laws that safeguard the public’s access to public schools.
Decriminalize address sharing
Display: None;
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
Americans of all races and income levels use incorrect addresses to get their kids into better schools. No parent should be subject to jail time or excessive fines for trying to find the right educational opportunities for their families.
These laws are not consistently enforced, and the most egregious penalties are most often visited on low-income families or people of color. Districts should not be allowed to conduct home checks of children or to hire private investigators to follow children home from school. Nor should the law allow them to operate tip lines in which residents are encouraged to turn their children’s classmates in for living in the wrong area. These policies hurt families and are bad for the American social contract.
Our Videos
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to ensure you’re kept up to date with every new video release.
