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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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FACT BRIEF

Is it true that supporters of school choice never advocate eliminating district boundaries or changing funding models?

By Jacob Alabab-Moser
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NO

While school choice is commonly associated with funding charter or private school education, the policies also permit "interdistrict schooling," allowing families to send their children to public schools outside of their district. According to 2017 data, 23 states require public schools to admit students from other districts.

Education expert Corey DeAngelis stated, "One of the central tenets of school choice is that zip code shouldn't determine your school."

Many school choice advocates also recognize that funding education via local property taxes creates educational inequality, with low-income districts unable to invest in enough teachers and supplies to facilitate quality schooling. School choice advocates Aaron Garth Smith and Christian Bernard stated,

"Ideally, local property wealth should play no role in determining school funding levels. Dollars instead should be pooled at the state level and allocated transparently based on enrollment and student needs." 

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association Interdistrict school choice: A win-win
National Center for Education Statistics Table 4.2. Numbers and types of open enrollment policies, by state: 2017
Reason The New York Times' Nikole Hannah-Jones Inadvertently Makes the Case for School Choice
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Gigafact
Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.