Parents who want to choose the best schools for their kids often get overwhelmed wading through test scores and other metrics.

That struggle becomes especially real when San Diego Unified’s school choice window opens every year. From Oct. 3 through Nov. 13,  families can choose to send their kids to a school outside their neighborhood.

To ease the process, Voice of San Diego, along with the San Diego Workforce Partnership and UC San Diego Extension Center, put together an interactive map that helps parents compare and research local schools. It includes crucial data on each school's performance, and filters through the ones that offer special programs like dual-language immersion.

On the podcast, hosts Scott Lewis and Laura Kohn go through the ins and outs of our schools map and explain the school choice process.

“We’ve put together a lot of different data sets that are out there available to parents and the general public, but don’t show up in the same place,” Khon said. “It should be a great tool for parents.”