Minn. Choice Programs Are Found To Have Small But Beneficial Effect

By Lynn Olson

Giving parents and children a choice among public schools has small but generally positive effects, according to two new studies on Minnesota's choice programs.

The reports--prepared by Policy Studies Associates, a Washington-based research firm, under contract with the U.S. Education Department--found that many of the dire predictions about public school choice, such as racial inequities, have not materialized.

Between 1985 and 1991, Minnesota passed several laws designed to increase educational options, including an open-en-rollment option that allows children in grades K-12 to attend schools outside their home districts, a program that enables 11th and 12th graders to enroll in college courses, and a program that enables high school students at risk of dropping out to...