Dr. Katrina Bulkley Co-Authors Study for the Research on Education Access and Choice (REACH)

Dr. Katrina Bulkely, Acting Dean for the College of Education and Human Services, was co-author of a study for the National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice (REACH) that found that state policies have not consistently advanced access to schools of choice for historically marginalized students.

For this study, researchers conducted 58 interviews with state policymakers and experts in Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, and Oregon in 2019, and drew from a wide range of policy documents. Researchers analyzed various elements of school choice, including access to information, availability of transportation options, enrollment processes, intentional planning of school openings and closures, oversight of school quality, and efforts to shape the quality and distribution of educators. While a small number of state policies did focus on improving school choice equity and access, findings suggest that policymakers designed school choice to provide families with the freedom to determine their children’s education but gave less consideration to providing better options to historically marginalized students.

Across all five states, participants raised concerns about three issues affecting underserved student populations: the quality of charter school authorizing, teacher retention, and planning around school openings and closures. “True access to schools of choice for historically marginalized students requires that the schools available be of high quality. States have often relied more on general policies like mandatory standardized testing for all schools to ensure school quality than on policies that support rigorous school oversight and teacher retention,” said Dr. Bulkley.

The study also highlights the difficulties families of historically marginalized students face in interpreting state-level information on school quality and options, as well as largely absent state policy around transportation equity and enrollment prioritization for underserved students. “Having free transportation, easy-to-find, digestible information about school options and application processes, and systems that prioritize diverse student enrollment can greatly enhance access to choice schools,” said Julie Marsh, co-author, and professor at USC Rossier School of Education, “yet most states in our study are not using their leverage to ensure these conditions exist at the local level.”

While strong efforts are needed to place equity and access at the forefront of priorities for policymakers, the researchers point to the study as a starting place to understand where improvements can have the greatest impact. “We are hopeful that our work will help state leaders see what is possible and consider ways to use their authority to ensure that school choice truly benefits all students, particularly low-income students, students of color, English learners, and students with disabilities,” said Laura Mulfinger, co-author and research project manager at USC.