Wednesday, August 22, 2007

The Magnet "Lottery"

I was talking to an acquaintance a few weeks ago about school issues and something really surprised me. She had no idea that the magnet lottery wasn't a 'true' lottery. She thought that everybody had an equal chance of getting in--that they just drew the names out of one big "pot". This woman is highly educated and very involved in her childrens' lives and she didn't know this. It made me wonder how many other people don't know this simple truth about our system. I suspect that its a lot.

How do they choose the 'winners' of the magnet lottery if they don't just draw their names out of a hat? First, any siblings are given preference, as are students moving from a magnet elementary or middle to a magnet middle or high school. Those two criteria make sense and although it can make it harder for newcomers or students transfering from a non-magnet to get in, it is understandable. Diversity is the next and most significant criteria in choosing who gets the coveted magnet and voluntary year round seats. Higher income students coming from low poverty schools have a much better chance of getting a seat than higher income students coming from high poverty schools. Under our system, higher income students (and their families) are far too valuable to high poverty schools to let them out. If the low poverty school is overcrowded, then that's an even bigger advantage for the higher income student.

The converse is true as well. If a lower income student wants to leave a low poverty school to attend a magnet, his chances are pretty low. Not only do they need him to 'diversify' the low poverty school, but chances are that the magnet he's applying to has enough of his kind already. (Unless its a western ITB magnet, but that's a different issue altogether and one that's been addressed somewhat by the demagnetization of Root and Olds). Actually, low income students get treated the worst under this system.

Low poverty schools need low income students to diversify their student populations and it doesn't matter how they get there. If they already live in a base area near a low poverty school, they have a lower chance of being granted admission to a magnet and if they live elsewhere they can be bused into a low poverty school from as far as 15 miles away. If they live near a magnet school like Hunter or Ligon they are likely bused out to make room for the suburban/higher income students. If they do remain at the magnet school, they are often segregated from the higher income children by virtue of the special programs that are offered. The final 10% of magnet seats are drawn as a true lottery and I have talked to one BOE member who mentioned being surprised that a higher income student was let out of a high poverty school until s/he realized that the student got into the magnet under the '10% rule'.

As awful as the above instances are, the most distressing thing to me is that nowhere is the welfare or academic achievement of individual students taken into account. Diversity in our school system is a good thing, but when it is taken to the extreme it becomes a liability. When we think of our students solely as F&R numbers and not as children with individual academic, family, and social needs it is a travesty.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Now What?

Well now that the BOE voted to demagnetize Root, Olds, Lincoln Heights, and Wake Forest Elementaries what's the next step? Obviously they will be looking at other schools at which to place the magnet programs, but how will they decide which schools? Beverley Clark has suggested Fox Road as a school to consider and it indeed has had a rocky history. Its doesn't have one of the highest F&R percentages in the county, but it has had trouble retaining its higher income base families. In the most recent reassignment plan, several nodes from North Raleigh were moved in to Fox Road, partly to lower the F&R percentage there. Many of those families objected to the move and it will be interesting to see how many will actually attend the school. In addition, I think that Fox Road is fairly underenrolled at the moment (I am operating without my laptop right now, which has all of my spreadsheets and documents on it).

It seems like a logical place to put a magnet program. Offer special academic opportunties and not only will the middle class base families will attend but more middle class families will enter through the magnet process. It's a win-win situation, right? It appears so, but it gets me thinking of other, unintended consequences. What does it say to the lower income families at the school? That the school is good enough for them but its only good enough for the middle class families if there are 'extras' available? That they don't deserve extra programs unless its to attract middle class students?

Perhaps all magnets should only have a low income base and then the rest of the seats can be filled by magnet applicants. That way, we won't have some groups of middle or upper class parents who get the magnet programs for 'free' while somebody who lives directly across the street from them but is in a different assignment node has to apply and hope that they get in. Of course it also begs the question "Why does anybody deserve the programs for 'free' while the rest of us must sacrifice"?

Removing the magnet programs from the 4 above mentioned schools was the right thing to do and it is a good first step. I'm not sure what the next step should be but I am hopeful that the decision process will open up the door for some honest discussion about fair access to magnet programs for all students in the county.