In our area, the only way to get into another public school district is via illegal/unethical means. Every so often we have seen mentions in the media regarding parents sneaking kids into our district. Usually they either "borrow" an address or somehow get hold of a fake lease. That isn't so easy since to register you would need to present a copy of your deed/mortgage/lease and two meaningful pieces of mail. Yet, somehow it happens more often than you would expect. Two years ago, there was even a concerted effort over months to uncover such students in our specific school due to overcrowding. I believe they remove a couple of dozen kids. Some parents have a better chance of getting away with it if they use a close family member's address and pretend they are the guardian for their child (i.e., uncle/aunt's address). There were instances where the district may choose to recover tuition from these parents, which amount to private tuition at non-religious schools.
Come to think of it, our district is also very stingy about allowing transfers among schools within our district. There is a bit of paperwork even for my kids who were accepted into magnet schools. They will officially be transfer students next year since the magnet school is not their geographic "home" school although still within the same district.
It comes down to money. Our tax-payers don't want to pay to educate students outside the tax base. Simce test scores are already high, there is no leverage in one more high performing student.
I am somewhat surprised that all the schools in your district plus most of the schools in the neighboring districts have not made AYP. It may be worth it to research a bit deeper to discover why and then isolate schools that you may want to actually visit. I have always visited and spoke to the principals before registering my kids at any school.
Since the public schools in your area are subpar, there may be a higher chance of decent private schools as a result. You should talk to your neighbors and colleague for leads to investigate.
