It is amazing the good things that happen when free choice flourishes.
A Columbia University study found that removing school district lines which determine the schools that children may attend attracts home buyers to areas they might otherwise avoid. And that increases real estate values in those areas.
When schools have open enrollment -- without children being rigidly required to attend the school in their immediate area -- parents are more willing to buy homes in areas thought to have worse schools, the study found. That's because they know they can send their children to a better school outside their zone.
Chattanooga has a number of areas with new or nicely renovated older homes that lots of middle-class people would love to purchase. Some may be hesitant, however, if that means sending their children to academically weaker schools.
But open enrollment "causes income and housing values to rise in previously low-quality districts" as more families are willing to move in, noted the report by Columbia's National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education.
Educationally, the clear benefit is that students perform better when they attend schools that they and their parents want them to attend.
While magnet schools in Hamilton County give a degree of choice, there should be broader options for students to attend schools outside their arbitrary geographic assignments.
Some fear that would lead to overcrowding at the best schools, but avoiding that is simple: Let students choose their schools, but if too many select certain schools, those living closest should have preference. When a school is filled, students living farther away should make a second choice. It should be students' and parents' responsibility, however, to get to a chosen school if it is off the regular bus route.
Free choice would boost school spirit, academic achievement and -- it now seems -- the housing market.