Are most public school transfers sports related?

Not according to new research from Americans for Prosperity Foundation West Virginia (AFPF-WV).

Unlike misleading reports from certain lawmakers and some media outlets, the vast majority of public school transfers under the No More Lines law were not sports related. According to the West Virginia Watch, most of the students who transferred last school year were in elementary school.

And the primary reason these families transferred their student was either they were looking for the right education for their child’s unique needs or they were seeking more convenient options for afterschool programs, childcare, and proximity to their workplace.

The No More Lines law, passed in 2023, was meant to significantly shore up the ability of families to transfer to any public school outside of their assigned district. The goal has always been, to empower parents to make sure their child has the right education for their unique needs.

To ensure state officials were following the intent of the legislature, our organization recently made a Freedom of Information Act request to the State Department of Education to find out how the state’s new No More Lines law is being implemented.

We found more than 7,000 families used this law to transfer to a public school outside of their resident school district.

That the alone shows the No More Lines law has been a success since so many families have taken the opportunity to find the right education for their child. As West Virginia policymakers continue to prioritize the empowerment of parents via expanded educational freedom options, we can expect to see increased parental satisfaction and better educational attainment follow suit.

Although we are happy with the number of families utilizing the law, our research also identified two major red flags. While lawmakers wanted extremely narrow circumstances under which a transfer could be denied, the State Department of Education and county school boards took it upon themselves to add arbitrary reasons for denial, like tardies and attendance. The problem with adding subjective benchmarks is we potentially undermine the power of choice, especially when we leave unelected bureaucrats with near-unlimited discretion outside of the bounds of the law.

The second red flag is that county school districts are failing to comply with their transparency and reporting obligations. Only five of 55 county school districts published their open enrollment data on their website, as required by law, and many school districts are not publishing information on how parents can use the law.

In short, some county school districts are breaking the law, and the Department of Education isn’t doing enough to enforce compliance. Given West Virginia’s long, sordid history of bureaucrats simply refusing to follow the letter of the law, we believe these further stifles education freedom.

We believe this unlawful discretion, as well as a clear lack of compliance, undermines the key goal of the No More Lines law. By putting more power in the hands of unelected bureaucrats, we take trust away from families to find the right education pathway for them. But groups like ours are here to hold them accountable.

The good news is, the implementation of state’s No More Lines law, despite some significant concerns regarding proper implementation, is affording thousands of families more educational freedom.

While there is clearly more work to be done, this is a great step towards West Virginia maintaining its status as a thought leader when it comes to innovative education policy. Anytime policymakers can allow families the diversity of educational choices they deserve, students, parents, and educators win.

Jason Huffman is the West Virginia State Director of Americans for Prosperity Foundation.