State's District of Choice transfer program deserves renewal by Legislature.

A relatively little-used option permitting students to enroll in public schools outside the district in which they live expires July 1. Lawmakers should renew the District of Choice program, one of the few choices that California's rigid public schools allow parents in deciding where their children will attend classes.

From our perspective, it's usually problematic to try to improve public schools. We prefer the government stay out of the classroom. The Register's founder, R.C. Hoiles, understood public schools are "based on injustice — arbitrary, initiated force," not freedom of choice.

In this case, however, we believe this program, affecting only a few thousand students statewide, can be a step toward ultimately freeing 6.2 million California public school students now required to attend schools where their parents reside.
State Sen. Gloria Romero, D-East Los Angeles, co-author of Senate Bill 680 to extend the program, frames the issue well: "Do we put parents and kids first or districts and their boundaries?" Part of what's wrong with the public school system is that this question must even be asked.

Opposition comes unsurprisingly from those who would lose state funding for students transferring to other districts. There's no difference for taxpayers. About $8,070 on average in state funding goes with the child to the new school district, as it should.
But to whom does the child belong? In our view, kids clearly don't belong to a school district merely because they live within its boundaries. The District of Choice program recognizes this by allowing parents to transfer their children to a neighboring school district willing to take them, even if the district of residence doesn't want them to go.

This is similar to California's community colleges, which permit enrollment irrespective of residence. This option recognizes parental control and choice, as it loosens ever so slightly public schools' grip on children.

The transfers, according to the bill's co-author, Sen. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, also motivate school districts to improve so that students will have reason to stay. That's what competition achieves. It's what attendance rules based on residency undermine.
We urge renewal of the District of Choice program because the more freedom that parents are allowed, the more they will demand. We hope that leads to freedom from public schools' grip for everyone who wants to go, and the right to take their tax dollars with them.