Missouri students and families deserve choice. Lawmakers, make it happen | Opinion

This back-to-school season, Missourians can choose to pick up supplies at Target or Walmart or Amazon. Families can schedule a check-up with the pediatrician they trust, even if the doctor’s office was in a different town or county. And they can sign their children up to play sports this fall in the league they thought offered the best quality and the fit.

However, most of us stop having choices when it comes to the public school where we send our kids.

That’s because Missouri does not offer open enrollment, which allows families to choose to attend a different public school. For five years, legislators in Jefferson City have debated whether to join the majority of states that permit some form of open enrollment. This spring, the bill got more support than ever before and passed the Missouri House by a significant margin.

Then, again, the bill died in the state Senate. What’s holding us back?​​

If a family was satisfied with its local public school, its students would continue to attend that school. If a family was unsatisfied with its local public school, open enrollment would allow them to attend a different public school. The new school would receive the funding that moves with the student. This makes sense, since the funding is intended to educate the student and parents. Under open enrollment, families can select the school that best meets their child’s needs.

This policy would level the playing field. Right now, wealthy families can choose which schools their children attend by moving to areas with high-performing schools or paying for private school. Everyone else is stuck in ZIP code-based assignments that reinforce economic and racial segregation. Open enrollment would open up public schools and offer more freedom for all families.

The version of the bill that died this spring was balanced. For instance, it had safeguards built in that would limit the percentage of a school’s students that could enroll somewhere else, preventing an exodus.

Additionally, provisions were included to address transportation logistics, ensuring that families could have access to schools outside their district, as well as support for special education services to ensure students with unique needs are not left behind. Furthermore, the bill considered capacity limits to prevent overburdening receiving schools while still providing families with the option to choose.

Open enrollment is a good policy for kids and families across Missouri, who would no longer be constrained by the local school they were zoned to attend. They would have options among public schools, just as families in Kansas City and St. Louis already have options between traditional district schools and public charter schools. And with new tools such as the School Finder, finding and comparing nearby schools is easier than ever.

But here’s the rub: Open enrollment puts pressure on schools that are already struggling to provide students with high-quality educational opportunities. I’m a former teacher and principal, so I get it. Schools are funded based on the number of students they serve. A policy like open enrollment makes it possible for students to attend other schools, which means a loss of a student and the funding that follows them.

For administrators at low-performing schools, that’s a frightening prospect. If schools are not providing students with excellent educational opportunities, they would not stand to benefit from open enrollment. If schools are providing students with excellent educational opportunities, they would stand to benefit from open enrollment — families would want to enroll their children there.

I’m comfortable with that trade-off. As much as I’m looking to support schools, I’m looking to support students first and foremost.

At the end of the day, open enrollment might strike some people as a scary policy, and I truly empathize with that. However, I’m far more scared by the prospect of our state growing complacent with a status quo that traps students in schools that are not meeting their needs.

It’s time for the Missouri Senate to listen to families — and give them the same choices others already have.

Tiara Jordan-Sutton is CEO and founder of Activate STL, a Missouri-based education advocacy 501(c)(3) nonprofit also known as Activate MO.

This story was originally published August 20, 2025 at 5:10 AM.