Florida schools are preparing for next year’s rollout of one of the nation’s most unrestricted open-enrollment laws allowing students to more easily cross district lines to go to school—a practice that has grown slowly nationwide amid both statutory and practical hurdles.
Nationwide, 23 states had some type of mandatory, interdistrict open-enrollment laws in 2015, prior to enactment of Florida’s law, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. But many of the laws set strict limitations, such as granting only transfers out of low-performing schools. Many states also have voluntary policies both within and outside districts.
