In New York you are guaranteed the option of school choice in three situations.

Poorly Performing Schools

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, you may transfer your child to another school in the district if his school has been classified as “in need of improvement” for two years in a row. Your district may have only one school that serves a particular grade. Or, it may have no schools that perform well enough to be eligible for choice. In these cases your district is required to attempt to form agreements with neighboring districts to allow choice. Even if your district is unable to form agreements and you are unable to transfer your child, you may still request tutoring services from your district.

Persistently Dangerous Schools

The No Child Left Behind Act also gives you the option to transfer your child if he is the victim of violence at school or if the school is classified as “persistently dangerous.” Schools that are classified as “persistently dangerous” usually have a certain percentage of the student population that has been suspended or expelled for a violent incident within the past year. On the whole, a very small number of schools across the United States have received this designation.

Special Education

You may transfer your child if she needs special education and the school to which she is assigned is unable to meet that need. You may transfer to a school that is able to carry out your child’s Individual Education Program (IEP).

Optional Intradistrict Transfer

It is up to each district to decide whether to allow students to choose the school in the district they would like to attend. Different districts will allow transfers for different reasons, so contact your district to find out what its specific regulations are.

Optional Interdistrict Transfer

In some cases you may transfer your child to a school in another district. You must find a district willing to accept your child, which may be difficult because the district will receive no additional funding to accept your child (unless he is handicapped). The receiving district will usually require parents to pay tuition if they accept the transfer.

In addition to these options you can also consider charter schools, magnet schools and private schools. See these GreatSchools.net articles to learn more about your options.

November 2005