How open enrollment is reshaping Twin Cities school districts and impacting students

Minnesota Now

Nearly 44,000 Twin Cities students crossed into another district to attend school this year, using a process known as open enrollment, according to a new report published by Axios Twin Cities, a digital news outlet. According to their analysis, the number of students participating in open enrollment has grown every year for at least a decade.

Meanwhile, research also shows racial segregation is worsening in schools, and some critics of the policy argue that open enrollment is one reason why. Kyle Stokes, a reporter with Axios, and Myron Orfield, the director of the University of Minnesota Law School’s Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity, joined Minnesota Now to talk about the history of open enrollment and how it’s reshaping school districts in the Twin Cities.