The Unsafe School Choice Option (USCO)

The Unsafe School Choice Option (USCO) is a federal safeguard created under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which ensures that students attending persistently dangerous schools can transfer to a safer public school. Yet, in the decade since ESSA became law, Missouri has never identified a single unsafe school, despite reporting tens of thousands of violent incidents and weapons violations. This one-pager explains how Missouri’s overly narrow definition leaves families without the protections ESSA guarantees and outlines steps policymakers can take to fix it.