Alaska Senate Bill 82 would make it easier for students to transfer schools

A version of this public comment was submitted to the Alaska Senate Education Committee on February 20, 2025.

Alaska S.B. 82 would make it easier for students to find a public school that best fits their needs. The legislation would let students attend public schools outside their assigned school district or residentially assigned school area if space is available. Moreover, the proposal would make public schools free to all students regardless of where they live by banning public schools from charging fees to transfer students.

The proposal includes an excellent district-level transparency provision, requiring districts to post their available capacity by grade level on their websites so parents and students can see potential options. It also would require the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development to collect key open enrollment data annually, including the number of approved transfer applicants, the number of public school students denied transfers, and the reasons for their denials. If codified, Alaska would be the 10th state to adopt both strong cross- and within-district open enrollment laws allowing students to attend the public school best for them. 

Overall, it’s a strong bill since Alaska’s students could attend any public school with open seats for free, regardless of where they live. It also would implement good transparency provisions at the state and district levels. 

However, S.B. 82 can still be strengthened. As written, the proposal doesn’t stop school districts from discriminating against applicants based on their abilities or disabilities. A 2023 report from Wisconsin’s open enrollment program showed that transfer applicants with disabilities were rejected by public schools at higher rates than their peers. The bill should include language that prohibits districts from discriminating against applicants based on their abilities or disabilities. 

Moreover, the proposal could do more to make the open enrollment process more transparent for parents and lawmakers. In particular, school districts should also be required to post their open enrollment policies and procedures on their websites so applicants’ families know when, where, and how to apply. Additionally, the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development should be required to publish the open enrollment data collected in Section 1(a)(C)(ii) in an annual report on its website. This creates a one-stop shop that puts school districts’ open enrollment practices at the fingertips of families and policymakers.

Lastly, Section 1(a)(C)(v) could be strengthened by ensuring that the appeals process for rejected applicants is neutral. Under this process, school districts should be required to inform denied applicants in writing of the reasons for their denials, and rejected applicants should be able to appeal their denial to an entity other than the rejecting district, such as the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development.

Strong open enrollment laws ensure that students can attend public schools that are the right fit. For example, students in Arizona, Florida, and Texas use these programs to enroll in A or B-rated school districts. Other students use open enrollment for a variety of reasons, including to escape bullying, access Advanced Placement (AP) courses, specialized learning models, smaller class sizes, and shortened commutes. 

K-12 open enrollment is popular and widely used in a diverse group of states with laws that empower students and families. For example, 28% of Colorado students and 9% of Florida students in public schools use open enrollment to attend schools that are the right fit.

Research, including a nonpartisan California Legislative Analyst’s Office 2016 report and a 2023 Reason Foundation study, both show that the competitive effects of open enrollment encourage public school districts to improve for all students. In a 2023 EdChoice report, public school district administrators in Arizona, North Carolina, Indiana, and Florida stated that open enrollment encouraged them to innovate by creating new and improving existing programs to attract and retain students. 

According to national polling released by Morning Consult and EdChoice in January 2025, open enrollment is supported by 75% of school parents. It also enjoys bipartisan public support: 81% of Democrats and 71% of Republicans favor allowing families to attend schools across district lines. This is why open enrollment bills signed into law in Idaho, Montana, and West Virginia during the 2023 legislative sessions enjoyed significant bipartisan support through the legislative process. 

Adopting a robust open enrollment policy in Alaska would help ensure that public schools are available to all students and empower families to find public schools that are the right fit.

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