Education freedom has been on a generational run. In the past few years, multiple public school choice programs, such as open enrollment, have been passed, and according to EdChoice, over a million students are now participating in private school choice programs.
Yet, as the education system changes, transportation access barriers could limit the rapid expansion of educational opportunities. If education freedom is to meet its full potential, education choice proponents cannot neglect the issue of transportation access. Instead, policymakers and reformers should increase transportation options to meet families’ needs.
While most students live geographically close to their assigned traditional school, students exercising education choice are often subject to longer commutes to attend the schools that best serve them. These longer travel times can have severe ramifications for students, as research suggests that a student’s access to school transportation factors into student attendance and performance.
The problem isn’t limited to a few families, either.
A 2018 report looking at Florida’s private tax-credit scholarship found that 30% of parents listed transportation as a reason they had difficulty using the program to find a school. However, polling suggests that two-thirds of parents will transport their child to a higher-performing school if given a chance. A survey last month by the transportation service HopSkipDrive showed that 70% of families surveyed said they were managing transportation on their own. Also, 30% of parents called coordinating transportation one of the most stressful parts of the back-to-school season.
In a series of reports from the Urban Institute, various cities, including Denver, Detroit, New York City, and Washington, D.C., were used as case studies to gain insight into the effects of transportation on school choice decisions. Each city offered various public education options for families outside a family’s residentially assigned school. Predictably, many families decided to use such options, choosing schools with lower absenteeism rates, higher graduation rates, and higher student achievement. These benefits increased when students attending their chosen schools were offered transportation.
Still, transportation options are often unavailable. Many states have no clear laws regarding who is responsible for providing student transportation. As a report from Bellwether put it, this system, which often offers no transportation support, is “inherently inequitable as low-income, Black, and Hispanic families are less likely to have access to an automobile and less likely to have the scheduling flexibility to accommodate a lengthy school commute.”
For example, 20% of low-income families do not own a vehicle, according to a 2021 report from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Of the families that do, vehicle availability remains an obstacle. Furthermore, school transportation costs have nearly doubled in the past few decades, explaining why transportation funding remains a commonly cited barrier for students receiving a high-quality education.
States like Arizona, which has universal education choice, have taken this issue head-on. After passing the first universal ESA bill, Arizona created the statewide Arizona Transportation Modernization Grant Program, using $20 million to modernize K-12 transportation options and increase student access to transportation. Grantees experimented with various options, such as partnering with a ridesharing company and experimenting with micro-transit service.
Early reports show the partnership increased support for homeless students, increased the number of students who take advantage of extracurricular activities, and provided a helpful stopgap for schools facing a bus driver shortage. Moreover, many of the solutions are still being scaled and implemented in districts, schools, and communities across the state to meet the needs of Arizona’s ever changing K-12 system.
Other states, like Wisconsin, have also tried allowing families to direct transportation dollars, which can help them find transportation solutions that best meet their needs. For instance, families in Wisconsin have this luxury, as the state will reimburse them up to about $1,200 a year for families of certain income status who use intradistrict choice.
Nevertheless, more innovative approaches are needed to increase access to new learning opportunities for the students and families needing them most. If education freedom proponents fail to embrace transportation reform, we will also fail students who deserve to be free from the constraints of an outdated education system based solely on their ZIP codes. We can’t let this happen. No barrier, especially no transportation barrier, should deter students from reaching their full potential.
