Table 7. Percentage of students in grades 1–12 whose parents reported having public school choice, considered other schools, reported current school was their first choice, or moved to their current neighborhood for the school, by student and household characteristics: 2003 and 2007

Trends in the Use of School Choice: 1993 to 2007

NCES 2010-004
April 2010

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Table 7.

Percentage of students in grades 1–12 whose parents reported having public school choice, considered other schools, reported current school was their first choice, or moved to their current neighborhood for the school, by student and household characteristics: 2003 and 2007

Student and household characteristics	Public choice available¹		Considered other schools		School was parent's first choice		Moved to neighborhood for school²
Student and household characteristics	2003	2007	2003	2007	2003	2007	2003	2007
Total	51	50	31	32	83	83	26	27

School type
Public, assigned	44	42	25	25	82	81	28	28
Public, chosen³	100	100	45	47	83	88	19	18
Private, religious	38	38	49	49	92	91	—	—
Private, nonsectarian	35	32	57	61	85	88	—	—

Sex
Male	52	50	31	32	83	83	26	27
Female	51	50	30	31	84	84	26	27

Race/ethnicity⁴
White	50	48	29	30	87	88	28	29
Black	55	54	40	43	73	70	19	18
Hispanic	51	52	28	28	80	81	27	25
Asian or Pacific Islander	49	41	30	34	83	80	34	36
Other race	60	53	33	36	79	77	18	23

Grade level
Grades 1–5	50	49	30	32	85	85	26	27
Grades 6–8	51	48	32	30	81	82	27	26
Grades 9–12	54	51	30	32	83	83	26	26

Disability status
Has a disability	51	50	34	37	79	78	25	27
Does not have a disability	52	50	29	30	85	85	27	26

Poverty status⁵
Poor	53	52	28	30	77	77	22	21
Near-poor	52	51	29	29	81	79	21	21
Nonpoor	51	49	32	33	86	87	30	30

Parents' highest level of education⁶
Less than high school diploma or GED	54	49	21	26	81	73	22	18
High school diploma or GED	51	48	26	27	81	82	24	21
Some college/vocational/technical	54	52	30	31	82	80	24	25
Bachelor's degree	49	49	33	32	85	87	28	31
Graduate/professional school	49	49	39	40	88	88	34	34

Family structure
Two parents	51	50	31	30	86	86	28	29
One parent	52	49	31	34	78	75	24	22
Nonparent guardians	52	54	24	39	79	77	18	10

Region
Northeast	39	36	30	34	84	81	30	27
South	47	45	31	32	82	83	26	26
Midwest	58	58	29	29	85	87	29	30
West	61	59	32	32	82	83	22	24

Locale
City	—	58	—	39	—	78	—	23
Suburb	—	43	—	31	—	84	—	33
Town	—	49	—	25	—	88	—	20
Rural	—	49	—	25	—	88	—	23
— Not available. † Not applicable. ¹ In 2007, there were 59 cases excluded from the analysis because parents reported the school as a private school when it was later found to be a public school and therefore questions about choice were not asked. ² In 2007, only parents of students in public schools were asked whether they moved to their current neighborhood for the child's school, therefore the analysis for both 2003 and 2007 is limited to students in public schools to maintain comparability. ³ Students who attended chosen public schools were automatically coded as "yes" for whether or not their district allowed public school choice. ⁴ Black includes African American, Pacific Islander includes Native Hawaiian, and Hispanic includes Latino. The Other race category includes students who are not Hispanic, who reported their race as either “American Indian or Alaska Native” or reported more than one race. Race categories exclude Hispanic origin unless specified. ⁵ Poor students are defined as those with household incomes below 100 percent of the poverty threshold; near-poor students as those with household incomes from 100 through 199 percent of the poverty threshold; and nonpoor students as those with household incomes at or above 200 percent of the poverty threshold. ⁶ GED is General Educational Development. NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES), 2003; and Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey of the NHES, 2007.