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INTRO: Getting your child into a strong public school in New York City is the kind of thing that can bring otherwise calm parents to blows. For decades… knowledgeable parents in one Upper West Side district have gotten their children into top-performing schools without such extreme measures…through an informal loophole. A new lottery admissions system would end that old practice…but as George Spencer reports, it will be a least a year before the Department of Education makes the change.
N1: Community Education Council meetings in District 3…which covers Manhattan's Upper West Side and Morningside Heights…usually have no more than a handful of quiet attendees. But last Wednesday's meeting at a middle school on west 93rd Street was not usual. For one thing...more than 100 parents were there…and so was the head of the entire school system…Chancellor Joel Klein…
{MB KLEIN SPEAKING UP}
N2: The turnout was good because the meeting addressed a longstanding question…how to fairly distribute open seats in the district's strong public schools. One possible answer is a lottery to fill the empty spaces. When Klein announced his decision to hold off on that change for now…already high tension overflowed.
{MB - "Justice delayed is justice denied" chanting from crowd}
N3: Here's what critics say is "unjust": Traditionally, strong Upper West Side schools have been underused because so many children who live in the district attend private schools. Savvy, enterprising parents are able to get their children handpicked by principals for the coveted empty spots. Unhappy critics say that has left working class families…often minority and immigrant…shut out.
{MB - Our views weren't represented…}
N4: Lauren Rosenthal is typical of how the system currently works. She is a stay-at-home mother of two who wants her child to attend P.S. 75…one of the most popular schools under consideration for the lottery. For the past year and a half, Rosenthal has researched schools around the city…in books and online. She has met with principals, spoken with other parents, and believes her hard work will pay off…with the P.S. 75 admission.
AX: ROSENTHAL 1: There are a lot of considerations that go into schools; a lot of people base a lot of things on the schools; it's not just the schools, it's where you live, what you can afford to spend on all sorts of things.
N5: A random lottery for applicants would change things for families like the Rosenthals…making admission no longer a sure thing. It might benefit someone like Delsa Rosso. Rosso is a Dominican native who arrived in Washington Heights five years ago knowing very little English. Early on, Rosso attended PTA meetings and fought hard for her children's admission to the same school, P.S. 75 - and they were eventually admitted. Today, she supports the lottery because she thinks it will benefit parents just like her five years ago…
ROSSO 1 and 2: That is a public school and they act like it's a private school…you get into things only if you know somebody, if you give money or if you fight like I did.
N6: Chancellor Klein says experiences like Rosso's need to change … and that a lottery might be the answer…after it has been studied more. Critics say there is not time to waste. Whether or not it is implemented, most agree that a lottery is simply an imperfect way to distribute the very few good slots in an education system with deep flaws. Clara Hemphill is author of several books about New York Citypublic schools.
AX: HEMPHILL: The problem is there just aren't enough good schools. In a way, both the middle class and the working class parents are "have nots" - they're just have nots and have really nothings.
N9: Even beyond District 3, Hemphill says the New York's public school system best accommodates the few parents who have time to be most involved…
AX: HEMPHIL: The current system definitely favors educated, savvy, connected parents.
N10: As the two-hour meeting concluded last Wednesday night, Council member Barbara Webb was worrying not about the lottery. She was thinking about these deeper issues of fairness throughout the city's education system. After all, the reason some District 3 schools are so popular is because many other schools perform so poorly.
AX: WEBB 1: There's a much broader issue of equity…we need to put our energy in on making better schools…even if we changed the admissions policy here, we're talking about a very small number of people.
N11: For now, that relatively small group of children and their families will wait. Chancellor Klein will revisit the lottery question during the coming months…possibly putting it in place for the 2006-2007 application cycle. In the meantime, he hopes smaller steps…like adding admissions information to the Department of Education website…will make things easier for all parents who want their children in these schools. GS, CRN.