(The Center Square) – Open enrollment laws for Alabama’s more than 700,000 schoolchildren are slightly better than only four states in America, says a new analysis.
Only Alaska, Maine, Maryland and North Carolina were worse meeting four out of seven metrics, says report author Jude Schwalbach of the Reason Foundation. Public Schools Without Boundaries 2025, released Thursday, dives into seven areas of open enrollment for each state and offers related developments.
Scoring for a possible 100 points perfect score was in statewide cross-district open enrollment (60 points); statewide within-district open enrollment (15); children have free access to all public schools (10); public schools open to all students (5); transparent state reporting on transfers (4); transparent district reporting on transfers (4); and transfer applicants able to appeal rejected applications (2).
Alabama gained one-third of the possible scoring for statewide within district. The five points tied with Missouri and Virginia. The letter grade was an F.
The 2025-26 fiscal spending plan appropriated by the state included nearly $10 billion for K-12 education.
The Reason Foundation is a Libertarian think tank. It promotes liberty, free markets and the rule of law.
Earlier this year, Alabama was No. 11 in the 2025 Education Freedom Report produced by the American Legislative Exchange Council. Measurements are not apples to apples with Reason. There, Alabama scored an F for open enrollment; an A for education freedom; B for homeschooling; and C each for charter schools and virtual schools.
