<h1>EDITORIAL: Will there be a scramble?</h1>
<h2>School districts opt for open enrollment</h2>
<p class="pubDate"><strong>Published:</strong> <span class="off">(Saturday, Mar 3, 2012 05:01AM)</span> <em>Midnight,</em> March 3</p>
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<p class="Editorial-Edit_BodyText_Cap">All but one of Lane County’s 16 school districts have chosen to open their doors to students from outside their boundaries. Half say they’ll accept out-of-district transfers in numbers exceeding 10 percent of their current enrollments. The great majority of students and families everywhere may decide to stay put. But in approving an open-enrollment law last year, the Legislature has invited a scramble, and lawmakers should be prepared to deal with the fallout.</p>
<p class="Editorial-Edit_BodyText">The arguments for open enrollment are compelling, starting with the premise that the first priority of a public education system is to do what’s best for children. If a student is more likely to thrive in one school than in another, state or local education authorities should think twice about standing in the way. The state now provides the bulk of funding for public schools, undercutting the long-standing notion that students should attend schools supported by their families’ local property taxes.</p>
<p class="Editorial-Edit_BodyText">Yet a school system must serve the interests of all its students — an obligation that is not always congruent with the goal of maximizing opportunities for each individual student. If a substantial percentage of students abandon their local school district and are not replaced by an equal number transferring in from elsewhere, those students who remain will be left with fewer resources to support a comprehensive educational program. As Springfield School Board member Jonathan Light observed at a meeting Monday, open enrollment “makes education a competition with winners and losers.”</p>
<p class="Editorial-Edit_BodyText">Winners and losers will be identified soon after the April 1 deadline for applying for transfers. The biggest losers are likely to be smaller school districts that are already stretched thin. The competition won’t end with this year’s transfers. The loss of more than a handful of students threatens to force reductions in faculty and staff, which could result in further defections by students in future years.</p>
<p class="Editorial-Edit_BodyText">The Legislature will have to face the consequences of open enrollment in 2013, by which time transfer patterns will begin to emerge. Lawmakers should brace for decisions about how some of the state’s school districts can remain viable — and whether all of them can survive.</p>
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