School choice policies and programs allow parents to select an educational setting for their children from among public, charter, magnet, and private schools, or to choose homeschooling. Enrollment in charter schools has been increasing since they were first introduced in the 1990s.

A 2019 study by the Education Department highlighted the key factors parents consider when picking a school. About four in five parents \who considered switching their child’s school reported quality of teachers and staff to be “very important” to their decision.

How many parents consider changing the school that their child attends?

Thirty-five percent of the parents of K-12 students considered schools other than the one their child attended; this doubles to 72% for parents whose kids went to a nonreligious private school. Parents sending their kids to their assigned public schools were least likely to consider alternatives, at 30%.

What matters most to parents?

Nearly 80% of parents considered the quality of teachers and staff “very important” when choosing a school. Other priorities were safety and student discipline (71%); and curriculum focus or academic performance (60%).

Parents of students at all school types had the same top three priorities — quality of teachers and staff, student safety and discipline, and curriculum — and most had the same order of importance. Nonreligious private school parents were the only group to vary, rating rate curriculum focus second, with a particular concern for unique curricula, and safety third.

Additionally, 58% of nonreligious private school parents rated class size as “very important,” compared to 35%-37% of parents of students at the other school types. Private schools generally have smaller class sizes than public schools.

Learn more about public school funding and get the facts every week by signing up for our newsletter. 

Recent education articles

Read data analyses written by the USAFacts team.

Page sources and methodology

All of the data on the page was sourced directly from government agencies. The analysis and final review was performed by USAFacts.

  • Department of Education

    2019 School Choice Participation