Could Wake County's new student assignment plan harm charter schools?
As noted in today's article, charter school parents and students complain that they're too low on the selection priority list in the assignment plan. They're worried that this will hurt their ability when they leave charter schools to get into the schools in the district they had hoped to attend.
The issue is more focused on the middle schools and high schools due to the use of feeder patterns.
First dibs at the secondary schools goes to students from the feeder schools. Then the remaining seats are filled via the selection process.
Top priority goes to siblings. Then comes students who live within 1.5 miles of the school. Then comes students who are applying to their closest school.
School officials have repeatedly cited how students leaving charter schools and current district students trying to leave their feeder pattern are treated the same.
But the charter school parents argue they should have at least the same as if not higher priority than the feeder pattern students.
Under the old plan's base assignments, charter school students knew when they opt out, often for high school, which school they'd get into. With the new plan that isn't so certain, especially after parents saw the apparent low number of available seats at many high schools.
With the feeder patterns in place, could this cause some families to not apply to charter schools? Similar questions have been raised about whether it would discourage applications to magnet schools, which may explain in part why the numbers were down this year.
Several parents and students from Exploris Middle School, a charter school in downtown Raleigh, voiced their complaints at last week's school board meeting.
“Exploris is a public school just like Daniels, Martin and Ligon," said Lucas Meeks, an Exploris eighth-grader. "We should have the same chance to go to a high school that is more convenient to us. We shouldn’t be denied this chance just because we go to a public school, especially like a charter school, long before the assignment plan was conceived."
His father, Robert Meeks, charged politics was behind the selection priorities.
“Treating publicly funded charter students as if they had arrived from another area arises from a notion that this is a warfare way to keep seats open for children from your somewhat arbitrarily defined feeder schools and thus reduce the number of potential complaints when you drop this plan on the community in the next couple of months," Robert Meeks said. "This policy will guarantee however that a whole bunch of charter school parents will be unhappy."
Ellie Buckner, an eighth-grader, complained it was unfair to force her to decide whether she should leave Exploris mid-school year to get into a school district middle school that feeds into Broughton High.
“It seems just because I chose to attend a charter school before the new plan was approved that I’m being treated differently as though I’m not as important as the kids in traditional schools now," Buckner said
Nathan Davis, an eighth-grader, noted that he only lives 1.1 miles from Apex High. He said he was concerned that capacity shortfalls would result him going to Athens Drive High, which is much further away.
“I attended elementary school in the Wake County Public School System," Davis said. "When it came time to go to middle school, I chose to attend Exploris with the understanding that I would be an automatic entry into my base high school, which is Apex High. I feel like I’m being punished for going outside of the Wake County Public School System for middle school because now I’m no longer guaranteed entry into my neighborhood high school."
“It seems incredibly unfair that a student gets higher priority than I do simply on the basis of what middle school they attend and not on their actual proximity to the school," Davis later said.
Both Buckner and Davis wound up withdrawing from Exploris to go to their base middle school. That probably won't be an option since Wake says that you had to be in a school by Jan. 13 to not have to apply in the selection process for this fall. But Buckner's mom said she got an exemption.
Buckner's and Davis' parents said that Wake should have at least preassigned the rising sixth- and ninth-graders from charter schools to a feeder pattern.
Superintendent Tony Tata said that more seats than now show up will become available as students leave their feeder pattern.
Tata also agreed when GOP school board member John Tedesco said that high schools will have to be flexible considering how capacity is limited at most schools. Tedesco said he expects schools to take more students than the capacity numbers would indicate.
In the end, Tedesco said charter parents will like the plan, especially now that they'll have more options, special programs and the guarantee of stability.
“What you’re hearing from families is the fear of the unknown,” Tedesco said.
Comments
Magnet Students rising middle and high school studentsCh
Mon, 01/30/2012 - 15:11 — moms4choicesCharter school parents are not the only ones feeling like they were penalized within this new CHOICE PLAN. Particularly, when they find it might be difficult to return to their proximity/base school.
There are 1,808 magnet students* in WCPSS, as rising 6th & 9th graders, that are transitioning to secondary schools during the 2012-13 school year--as cited in the January 24, 2012 article, on wcpss.net/news/2012_jan24_magnet-update/, 'Initial Magnet Results Presented to School Board'. Prior to the approved Choice Plan, all magnet students previously had a choice to either, apply to a desired magnet school, or, to be assigned by default to their ‘base/proximity’ schools for that important year of transition.
Now, all of those transitioning magnet students are being forced into ‘pre-assigned’ seats, within the new magnet feeder school patterns that they may or may not have chosen for their child. This means the choice was made for them, to go to one particular school--throughout middle & high school, without consideration to distance, programs, or parental choice. Those students, are now required to re-apply to their proximity/base school, or, apply to another magnet school of choice for this major transition. Many will continue to stay within the magnet program and for those that are given the school of their choice, that is great! In a majority of instances, however, the students that attempt to re-apply to their base schools or even another magnet, will find that their chances are quite slim and will be stuck on a potentially endless track of ‘pre-assigned’ schools.
This is what we discovered last week, when completing the 'choice' application for our rising 6th grader. In attempt to return to our base/proximity school, we were shockingly surprised to find, that, as of today, we are 1 of 115 students competing to get 1 of 40 available seats. Now, we know have less than a 50% of returning and we are suddenly painted a much clearer picture of how the magnet 'pre-assignments' are helping to implement the so-called 'CHOICES'. Apparently, we completely misunderstood the process! 'Blind-sided is an understatement! We thought the 'pre-assignment' was a technicality. That all we had to do was apply to our proximity school and no problems. BIG MISTAKE, bigger wake up call!
For the record, we love the magnet program and our child has had much success there. It was, however, always our plan to return to our base for middle and high school. Prior to now, we had that option--without event. (As many of the Charter family parents are now experiencing, as well.)
NOW, What will we say when someone asks me about our experience with the magnet schools? At this point,we will clarify the permanence of that decision. There are some great magnet schools in our county, with great programs, and they accomplish great things for all of their students. But, people need to understand that they aren’t just chosing one school, they are choosing two or three--elementary, middle & high. Wonder why the applications to the magnet schools were reduced for the upcoming school year? Well, if we had realized 3 years ago, that by putting our child into a magnet school for her elementary years would jeopordize our options to return to our base school, particularly during the important transtion into middle & high school, we never would have made that choice. WE WERE TOLD WE COULD ALWAYS GO BACK TO OUR BASE SCHOOL! We thought we were supporting a good program and now it has completely backfired on us. Homeschooling...here we come!
Great points. Interested in joining us?
Wed, 02/01/2012 - 22:29 — festusA group of parents have been trying to get the Board and Supt Tata to acknowledge these concerns at the past few board meetings. We're going to try again next Tuesday. Would you like to join us? The magnet voice needs to be heard. You can sign up for a three-minute slot and just speak your piece. If you can't make the meeting, I do encourage you to write to your Board member, copy Tata and the other board members, and send a copy to the News and Observer. And you can watch the meeting at WRAL.com
We're easy to ignore one by one. But together, much harder to ignore.
OT--Definition of "District Transportation"
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 20:28 — jenmanI asked Student Assignment for clarification on what "District Transportation" means. #4 on their "Top 10 Tips" PDF that Keung linked to in another post says "All proximity choices come with district transportation". According to student assignment, District transportation may be in the form of "neighborhood" or "express".
I then asked when we would know the level of transportation for our choices and was told "When you receive your assignment it will tell you about transportation."
I am in the process of asking for further clarification but it appears that we will not know the level of transportation for each school until after we receive our assignment. Does anybody else have info on this?
Farmington Woods, ad nauseam
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 18:17 — RWTIf anyone is interested, I have talked to several families who are leaving FWES by both the magnet and choice lotteries. My two sons' classes alone has kids leaving for Washington, Fuller, and Underwood with at least two others applying to get out by proximity. That's five families that I know of out of 45 kids. They all are leaving over the middle school issue: the (former) base families wanted to attend Reedy Creek or East Cary; the magnet familes wanted Martin, Ligon, or Carnage. If anyone has FWES as a choice, would you mind posting the available spaces you see?
Current Numbers
Mon, 01/23/2012 - 09:43 — CaryMomof4For K they are currently showing 110 seats available and 53 first choice applications
For 2nd grade they show "less than 5" seats available and 4 first choice applications
Wow
Mon, 01/23/2012 - 22:51 — RWTThis is a real switch from previous years, when magnet students made up a third of each class. The K class is going to be mostly proximity students, i guess.
It's got to be the middle school issue. Wow.
The rising second grade class is huge; I'm not surprised there are few seats available. I wonder how the other grades are faring.
choice vs. staiblity
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 17:24 — turnerk1It seems to me the issues that have been discussed on the blog of late boil down to one core question. Is this a choice plan or is it a stability plan?
If it is a choice plan, then the feeder patterns don't make much sense. Given the capacity problems in WCPSS, only kindergarteners are going to get much choice, and kids at all the other grade levels generally have only a small chance of being able to change schools. However the system's turn away from trying to make traditional schools resemble each other as much as possible (something that was a priority after the Curriculum Management Audit pointed out how different schools were from one another) does make sense. In a choice plan, each school needs to stake out something special that will draw parents to it.
If it is a stability plan, the feeder patterns make a lot of sense. They do provide much more stability than we've ever had before. But, the drive to make schools different from each other seems counter productive. If the next school down the road has the computer classes your kids wants to take, but there is very little chance you can get into that school, then the sort of resentment that is often directed at magnet schools, could easily be directed at lots of traditional schools as well. Not to mention, that the system has created a lot of unnecessary angst by seeming to promise choice where very little actually exists. This is a huge problem with the magnet program, and it threatens to become even more corrosive since now we are talking about multiplying the number of coveted schools and programs that people feel they are being denied entry to.
So, the school board has a decision to make. Which is it going to be? Right now it seems they are trying to have it both ways. In a system with declining or flat enrollment and extra capacity at most schools, it is probably possible to do both. Here, it is not.
What will it be for...
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 10:08 — bpuli9999parents who don't get their first choice? It would end up being neither - can't be happy with stability if it isn't the feeder you want. And from what WCPSS projects, there's going to be about 15% of parents who would fall into this category - and that's a whopping 20k kids.
15%
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 13:25 — Solon77It would be 15% of the people who choose to change - right now roughly 15% of 7,000 or 1,000. But it is just the beginning. As demographics continue to change and people come to the area we will once again be faced with under/over enrolled schools. Neighborhoods in the growth areas will be fractured due to lack of capacity and real choice. Increased transportation costs as kids in the neighborhood are assigned to multiple schools. It will not be to long before we are back to this again. The only way to get ahead of the assignment curve is to create capacity and for the public to accept facilities not fully utilized. This is not likely to happen. Todays letter titled "Total Taxes". "With prolific new school construction, I am sick of hearing about a lack of resources for education". So there you have it. This is the mind set, unable to distinguish between the capital and operational side of education.
And...
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 13:47 — Bob_SconceThat's why it's important for people who do understand the difference to be engaged in the public conversation.
...
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 10:51 — SideburnsUh, not everyone is participating in the choice selection process. Your 20K is an exaggerated number.
Great post
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 18:10 — RWTI bet any new school that opens will be tricked out with some goodies to try to get families to enroll. Ditto for the under-chosen, eventually. But where will the money come from?
Choice trumps proximity?
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 12:19 — bpuli9999All I hear nowadays is the whining about charter schools and feeder patterns. What I would like to know (at the end of the selection process) is how many parents actually selected the closest school - given all the noise that was generated by the right wing nuts the last couple of years. And how many of those folks (who made the most noise) actually selected the closest school. Somehow that whole "have to go the closest school" argument has sort of faded away and not even JT talks about it anymore.
...
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 16:52 — SideburnsOf course JT isn't talking about "having to go to the closest school" -- firstly, because he never supported that -- and secondly, because there has been compromise in moving forward with a new assignment plan. Some people, myself included, are happy to see a plan that guarantees stability for students even though it may not guarantee the most proximate assignment. It's not the plan that many of us had envisioned but it gives parents an opportunity to have a voice in their child's assignment, offers predictability and rids us of reassignment.
Those right wing nuts have managed to change the conversation in Wake County in regards to assignment. The only ones still barking are those that want to go back to the way things were -- GSIW & the NAACP. IMO, they are losing their relevance -- heck, even their School Board friends don't agree with them. So, unless you enjoy the conflict, you should be happy that we have moved on from the noise of the past.
Right.....
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 21:31 — bpuli9999And JT's original plan was never "neighborhood schools" at all. And he never said anything we heard him say either. Thanks for your revisionist POV.
...
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 21:56 — SideburnsI never said he didn't use the term "neighborhood schools". I said he never claimed to support a model that allowed everyone to attend their closest school. It was Wake Ed Partnership that promoted the myth of "closest school assignment".
Define "IS"
Sun, 01/22/2012 - 12:12 — Solon77Initially the support was to attend the closest school. Only after having seen the data and the realities that this could never be delivered on the focus shifted to "community" schools and choice.
From a Washington Post article.
Tedesco, who has emerged as the most vocal among the new majority on the nine-member board, said he and his colleagues are only seeking a simpler system in which children attend the schools closest to them. If the result is a handful of high-poverty schools, he said, perhaps that will better serve the most challenged students.
"If we had a school that was, like, 80 percent high-poverty, the public would see the challenges, the need to make it successful," he said. "Right now, we have diluted the problem, so we can ignore it."
...
Sun, 01/22/2012 - 13:19 — SideburnsAnd, under this new plan, students will have the choice to attend the schools closest to them.
A strict neighborhood model was never supported by the 2009 Board -- especially with the two different calendars that serve students in WCPSS. Even Tedesco's initial zone plan didn't have children attending their closest school. But, I'm not sure why that matters now.
Stability trumps both...
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 12:40 — shearertwI think what you're seeing is that most people want to just stay with what they've got because most parent's inherantly know that stability is very important to children. Instability and the unknowns that come along with it are scary for children and parents alike. So...most people will "choose" what they have now. Over time, however, more and more will choose proximity (as that choice doesn't mean a change for them) over "choice" because proximity equates with stability in a lot of ways. There are also going to be folks in the magnets and charter schools that will take a hard look at returning to the traditional public schools if proximity is a realistic option for them. That's why they're currently worried about only getting the left overs. I venture to say that many people choose magnets and charters over their base assignment because their base assignment sucked and wasn't proximal or stable. Now that they may have the option of a proximal and stable "base", they'll want back in....
Why should these...
Thu, 01/19/2012 - 21:49 — bpuli9999parents have the option of switching between charters and WCPSS whenever they want? I cannot just decide to send my kid to a charter school - there never are any openings. I tried to a couple of years ago - Magellan had less than 5 seats available in the "open" category for 5th grade, if I remember right - the rest were filled up by siblings. Why should siblings get priority at charter schools over my kid? Isn't priority exactly the complaint that was being voiced (against WCPSS)? Why are these families so special - to have a choice on where to send their kids? Especially when the same choice is not available to 99.9% of other tax-paying citizens? Talk about eating the cake and having it too.
Sibling priority
Mon, 01/23/2012 - 17:49 — festusCharters are not the only ones with sibling priority.
Well..
Thu, 01/19/2012 - 23:11 — Bob_SconceMagellan has so few 5th grade seats because their entry year is 3rd grade. The rest were filled up not by siblings, but by rising 4th grade students.
However, siblings do have priority at charter schools. That's allowed under state law, and presumably for the same reason that they have priority in WCPSS schools -- to keep families together.
Magellan doesn't have their results up, but Raleigh Charter last year admitted 144 students, of which 62 were siblings or children of faculty and 82 came in off the lottery -- out of 1041 applicants.
bigger picture here
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 07:19 — snordoneTo me, this speaks to the larger problem at hand - parents are not happy with the quality of our Elementary and Middle schools. They leave for charter or magnet or private schools early, but then reenter for high school because we do have some very strong public high schools - and we don't have many private/charter high schools. Endeavor will no doubt raise enough money for a high school, I have had friends tell me that they have been approached to put their 401K up for collateral for the loan to build the building. Education matters so much to parents that they are willing to do this.
In general, the administration of WCPSS resent charters, these schools do not have to educate "those who are the least," (WCPSS term, not mine), and therefore they get to use their resources for extreme enrichment. The parents volunteer and give money and life is easy. It is easier for them. My son's Title I school was planning on a 5th grade holiday craft and sent home a list of things the teachers needed to do these crafts. The craft day was canceled because they did not get the donations they needed. That is our base, Title I reality. We don't have school plays or musicals except for once a year because we don't have the manpower to do them. These (stupid) little things matter to parents, and they won't stay in these schools.
And another reason...
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 10:09 — bpuli9999the charter schools do well is the inherent skew/bias in the demographics of the parents who apply. Check out Magellan and you will see the demographics do not represent (even the immediate) surroundings, let alone those of the county as a whole. Of the many reasons is the lack of transportation, additional cost for everything other than the core courses etc.
Bottom line , charter schools are not better because they do a good job - they are better because of the (indirect) ways they control who gets in.
So...
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 10:45 — Bob_SconceIt's certainly true that most charter schools do not reflect the demographics of the county. That's not a surprise since charters tend to focus on specific sub-populations and those sub-populations probably don't have the same demographics as the county at-large. And, sure, the lack of transportation may have an additional effect. But, it's a big jump from there to say that they ONLY do better because of the demographics -- that's just your speculation.
In fact, the opposite seems more likely: when you're focused on the needs of a specific sub-population, you can do a better job of meeting those needs than you could if you had a much more general population. It's the same reason why you get better Italian food at an Italian restaurant than you do at Applebee's. For example, consider Quest Academy, which focuses on "motivated students pursuing high intensity training outside the classroom." Doesn't it seem likely that they'll meet the needs of those students better than a general public school?
As a side note, I suppose it would be possible to require the local school district to transport children to charter schools. But, somehow, I don't think that would make the charter-complainers any happier.
curious
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 11:37 — EBDarcyWhat sub-population do Magellan, Endeavor, and Franklin Academy target? What needs particular to that population are they focused on? You may have a point with Quest, but to claim that the results at these three schools isn't due in large part to their population is not an argument that is creditable.
Well...
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 13:06 — Bob_SconceThey each target students who desire the sort of instruction that they do. For example, Franklin does "Direct Instruction." I'm not that familiar with Magellan or Endeavor, but I do know that they offer programs that are attractive to families.
You have an underlying argument that basically says "If students at charter schools don't do any better on their EOG/EOCs than they would in WCPSS schools, then there's no justification for the charter school." Even if we accept the predicate of that statement, the conclusion doesn't follow.
That statement is a bit like saying "you get just as good nutrition at Applebees as you do at Chili's. So, there's no justification for Applebees to exist." Yet, somehow, Applebee's manages to thrive. Why? Simply because some people prefer it -- maybe they like the ambiance, prefer the specific wall-bling, like individual servers or the waiting area. I am made better off by the availability of both a Chili's and an Applebees near my house, even if I only ever eat at one of them.
Charter schools are similar -- there are intangibles at each school that cannot be measured by test scores which make their students better off than if they were at a WCPSS school. If those intangibles didn't exit, then those students would be at a WCPSS school.
just a thought
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 11:40 — AngelaWthe stagnating AG sub-population?
that would be "credible"
I agreed with you right up until the stupid paren...
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 00:15 — raleighlauraI don't think those things are stupid. I think field trips, craft days, hands on science experiments, musicals, celebrations, United Arts performances, and other enrichment is VERY important. I don't see why they are stupid in your eyes, or why it is ok in Wake for some schools to have all of this and more and others cannot. I understand why we have that situation, but I don't understand why it is accepted. It's not like we have no clue what makes an attractive elementary. This situation could be remedied if we made it a priority.
in the grand scheme of education
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 15:31 — snordonethey are not meaningful. they are meaningful to parents. And they cause them to look elsewhere. it can't change until we change our funding formula
Interesting
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 09:34 — valsparIf these parents would stay in those schools, so would their resources, talents, volunteering.... then the types of things you list as important to them would also stay in those schools.
Hmmm, what other reason could there be for these parents to exit? Let's speculate - since they bring what it is they want, and it follows them wherever they go, and they have the capacity to make a school the experience they want it to be for their child - I wonder, for some of these parents, if it has anything to do with "the least"?
not from where I sit
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 20:02 — snordonein a base Title I. I have seen these parents spend countless hours on the PTA, volunteering, raising money, organizing clothing closets and science expos. But they leave because of lack of educational enrichment. That is why I am leaving. That is why policy 6200 failed - our enrollment-based funding formula and starvation of the base. If the underlying premise of policy 6200 was that middle class schools are strong because those parents understand that education is their child's future, why would they stay in an under resourced school? I always cringed when parents at BE and other Title I schools are accused of racism, as you said above. These parents did everything for their school only to have the district spit in their face. In contrast, magnets are capped at an F&R <35% and have tons of enrichment. Who is it really that fears "those who are the least?"
Now I'm back on your page.
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 00:16 — raleighlauraAmen! The magnet cap on fr is nuts.
Back on your page
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 14:09 — Solon77Don't believe everything you read. Verify for yourself. ES Magnets have a higher F&R% than the county average and over half have F&R% well above this 35% threshold referenced.
Does the funding formula need to be changed to better taken into account the particular needs of the school ? Perhaps. And is it an overall county wide issue versus targeting magnets ? - yes. Look at the non magnets schools. For example - Cedar Fork, Davis Drive, Olive Chapel, Sycamore (to name a few) - less than 10% F&R. Does it make sense for these schools to have the same funding as say Baileywick, Leadmine, Lynn Road, and Millbrook to name a few that are >40%.
you are not looking at the type of magnet
Sun, 01/22/2012 - 08:43 — snordonethe Title I magnets are Title I, like Emma Conn on the low end and Brentwood on the high end. I am talking about the Underwoods and wileys. there is a dramatic difference between Title I and non-title I
your second question - yes, we need to have needs-based funding, which means we must revise our funding formulas
What you describe
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 20:49 — Solon77What you describe again comes back to the unwillingness of the tax payers to properly fund the schools. You can take all of the extra $ spent on magnets - roughly $13m and redistribute that across 165 schools and you get less than $80k per school or a little more than 1 full time teacher. You are attacking the wrong enemy.
from what we saw in the budget
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 23:12 — snordonethe ES magnets do not get any extra money. But they have low F&R and use it differently. The Title I schools get more MOE and TDA but have no electives or enrichment, and the Magnet Title I get more MOE but less TDA as the F&R increases. This is not financial, that would be an easy fix, it is management.
Magnet ES have low F&R
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 12:54 — Solon77the ES magnets do not get any extra money. But they have low F&R and use it differently.
You appear to be very knowledgeable and privy to a lot of data us basic parents do not have. And yet you go on about statements like above - ES magnets have low F&R and in a post above claim it is capped at 35%. Being a finance guy working with sales guys I have been conditioned to "trust but verify". So what did I find ?
19 Magnet ES, more than half (11) have F&R greater than the 35% threshold you cited. 9 have F&R% higher than Baileywick. The average F&R across all magnet ES is 44.4% against a county wide average of 35.6%. Baileywick is 44.6% - so you could argue that the magnet schools and Baileywick are the same. Your claim that magnets have have low F&R is just flat out false.
By your own words, Magnets do not get any extra money. Your claim that magnets have a lower F&R has been disproved and in fact magnets have a higher F&R than the county average. So it certainly appears your attack on magnets is some personal grudge.
BTW - our ES was Leadmine, same demographics as Baileywick and we were very satisfied with our experience there. Great teachers, principal and very active parent and student participation.
we got the budget at the Ed task force
Sun, 01/22/2012 - 08:47 — snordoneagain, look at whether a school is Title I on not. if you want the data ask a friend to email me- Brenda, Anne, even Yevonne. i will send you the spreadsheet
I can't speak for snordone,
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 15:08 — jenmanI can't speak for snordone, but there are a number of magnets located in affluent areas that have F&Rs below 30%. Those are the ones that I think she is speaking of.
They have F&Rs that low because if it gets higher, WCPSS is afraid that the aflluent base families will leave. There is not an official cap on those magnets but it is the reality. I've said for years that magnets, particularly those in affluent areas, should be around 40% F&R. There is no excuse for them not to be, especially when there are non-magnet schools above that with no extras.
Number of magnets
Sat, 01/21/2012 - 17:58 — Solon77There are also a number of non magnets schools that are well below 30%. If the funding issue needs to be put on the table then all schools should be considered - magnet and non magnet. This idea of picking on a few magnets and blaming them for the ills comes across as ridiculous.
I am not talking about the
Sun, 01/22/2012 - 18:45 — jenmanI am not talking about the same things snordone is, but for me the difference is that those non-magnet base schools under 30% are not receiving extras from the system. Some of the rim schools have higher F&R% because low income kids are getting bused past those affluent magnets to those rim schools. Why? Because even with all of the magnet extras and the very active and involved magnet families, having a higher F&R might cause those affluent base families to leave.
I know that this does not solve all of our funding problems and I have never advocated for getting rid of the magnet program & spreading that money to the rest of our schools. But this is an issue that needs to be addressed. It is part of the problem and we can't ignore it anymore.
That unwillingness will continue
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 22:43 — FSandYOUPrevious boards proved untrustworthy and wa la, here we are. Not many people trust the school system and they will not be conned again over bonds. That trust will have to be re-earned and that will take years.
No matter how much doom and gloom we hear forthcoming from The Evans & Martin Fibb Show.
People left for a variety of reasons
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 14:31 — nmoskalDon't forget that non-magnets were specifically told that they were not allowed to offer anything "extra" or enriching. Therefore, parents who feel strongly enough about having extras and enrichment for their child will not attend the public non-magnets - period.
Also, some families left non-magnets for stability and to avoid reassignments, some left to avoid YR, some left because they felt wcpss jerked them around and treated them unfairly (find people who lived in Crossroads area in the early 2000s and say "red flag"; people still remember).
Are there people out there that try to avoid "the least" to some degree or another? Of course, including some people who supported the "diversity" policy because it reduced the level of exposure to "the least" in their areas.
Is it the main reason people left? Not in my experience, but then again I don't hang around people like that.
The avoidance behavior will continue as long as people are viewed in terms of "the least" and "the more or most". BTW using a view of least and more leads to mutual avoidance (pointing it out for those who haven't figured that out yet.)
"including some people who
Fri, 01/20/2012 - 15:17 — shearertw"including some people who supported the "diversity" policy because it reduced the level of exposure to "the least" in their areas."
Spot on, with the exception that "some" should be changed to "many".
MYR Opt Out Students are also competing with Charter Students
Thu, 01/19/2012 - 20:45 — jedaviDon't forget that we also have 1,100 + rising 6th and 9th graders, including many MYR opt out students, who have an assignment outside their choice list and no transportation for next year. These students are also competing for very few remaining seats and we've been part of the WCPSS elementary / middle school system for years.
My daughter is currently pre-assigned to middle school 30 minutes from home with no transportation. Yes, I've completed my choice application but I only had two middle schools on my choice list (one traditional and one YR) and student assignment told me there was no guarantee I would get a seat at either. I've been following the assignment plan of the board from five years ago and I've attended the only traditional calendar elementary school they offered for my address, which wasn't close to my home. Who knew that I'd end up fighting for a seat at what is my base middle school today?
So if you don't get a seat at either
Thu, 01/19/2012 - 21:17 — FSandYOUwhere will you go?
Stuck far from home
Thu, 01/19/2012 - 21:44 — jedaviThey tell me that I'll have to stay at the non-proximate school with no transporation if there aren't seats at either of my choice schools. I believe Mr Tata said in the last board meeting that the board would be figuring out "if and how" to provide transportation to any of these 1,100+ students who don't win the choice lottery.
Feeder patterns
Thu, 01/19/2012 - 13:22 — jellyfish1How about keeping feeders for middle school to high school but eliminating feeders for elementary to middle? This would give families and the system greater flexibility and not force folks to make choices at K for their child and family's entire school career. It would also give folks the possibility of true choice with availability at 6th grade. In addition, it addresses the issue of charter and private school students looking to return to the system at the middle school level.
It sounds like there are an equivalent number of folks who want to go from YR elementary to YR middle and who want to go from YR elementary to traditional middle. For magnets, it sounds like there are folks who want to switch programs or out of the magnets at 6th and as many who want to stay with their program and folks who want to get into magnets at 6th. Eliminating ES-MS feeders would allow for that flexibility.
It's simple reasoning
Thu, 01/19/2012 - 13:17 — openmindI feel it is quite simple if you think about it. A family has chosen to leave WCPSS for whatever reason it may be. Another family has their child in a Wake County school. The child that has been a part of the WCPSS, in my mind, should be given priority for choice over a student who has not attended the school by choice.