Unified Lottery is official

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I only want my child to go to my inbound school for PS3, but have only about a 50% chance to the lottery. If I list that as my only choice, would I then be added to the waitlist if I don't get in? Or, are there no longer any waitlists at all?

How did you come up with a 50% chance of getting in your IB PS3 school? Isn't it universal without boundary preference? If it isn't, how'd you get that number?

My inbound school has room for about 15 kids in the P3 class, and this year about 30 or so inbound students applied. About 4 spots went to siblings with preference, so that leaves room for 11 new inbound students. This is why I think my chances are 50% or slightly less to get into my inbound school.

Thanks. So does that mean PS3 isn't a universal lottery?

It's universal - anyone can apply for anywhere - but inbounds students have preference for neighborhood DCPS schools. Not a guarantee, but a preference, over students who are not inbounds.

Ok, now I understand. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No YY, interesting. Actually as a YY parent I hope they choose not to participate and keep the time stamp wait list. One if YY string points is the involved parents and the amazing job the PA does raising funds for the school. You definitely get some involved, dedicated parents if the top of your wait list is comprised of parents who took the extra effort to stand in line extra early. And before you say how unfair it is, with enough notice and planning you can work it out. It is ONE day out of the year.

If that's true, why so little participation from parents in the younger classes, especially the big class of 100?

That's not what I see. At all. The PA meetings have great attendance and they gave the school at check for 90K this year. Pretty amazing if you ask me. It's a very strong community.

Parents with kids in the higher grades run the PA. I think YY should get on board, or maybe the charter board should simply make it mandatory. I envision it will as the idea catches on.

Maybe they're waiting to decide if prek3 will be added for 2014 to decide if YY will join? Not that it'll make a big difference since in all likelihood most/all spots in prek3 will probably go to sibs. Just speculating...

The younger grades have great participation by parents even if they don't participate in the PA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So say I am a parent who puts a much-hyped school #1 for PK3 or PK4 -- and my kid gets in, but upon visiting and actually commuting there since many parents at each end of the SES spectrum - hourly-wage parents and super-high-power parents - don't visit each and every school they apply to, the family realizes the school is not for them and their child for whatever reason (commute, vibe, diversity numbers, curriculum, etc) - they would be LOCKED out of every other wait list? No school for that kid except the leftovers?

Wow, what do you want from a school system? In this scenario, you got your #1 choice. And you still want to be able to change schools at will? Finding out something isn't the right fit and having to deal with it is just part of life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I only want my child to go to my inbound school for PS3, but have only about a 50% chance to the lottery. If I list that as my only choice, would I then be added to the waitlist if I don't get in? Or, are there no longer any waitlists at all?

I didn't see anything in the article to indicate there are NO waitlists.

My guess is it will run like the DCPS lottery did last year -- you can only be admitted to one choice, and you'll be waitlisted at other choices (not only higher-ranked ones).

The main difference will be, with most charters and DCPS on a single lottery, no one can be admitted to more than one of the participating schools.

That alone will cut down the waitlist shuffle dramatically -- people who get into their top choice presumably can't/won't switch to anywhere else, so way fewer waitlist spots will open up for the people who got into a second/third choices. So those people, in turn, will stick with the school they got into, and so on down the line.

Waitlists can't go away completely; there will always be people who get a spot at a nonparticipating charter, or decide to go private, or move away from DC unexpectedly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I only want my child to go to my inbound school for PS3, but have only about a 50% chance to the lottery. If I list that as my only choice, would I then be added to the waitlist if I don't get in? Or, are there no longer any waitlists at all?

I didn't see anything in the article to indicate there are NO waitlists.

My guess is it will run like the DCPS lottery did last year -- you can only be admitted to one choice, and you'll be waitlisted at other choices (not only higher-ranked ones).

The main difference will be, with most charters and DCPS on a single lottery, no one can be admitted to more than one of the participating schools.

That alone will cut down the waitlist shuffle dramatically -- people who get into their top choice presumably can't/won't switch to anywhere else, so way fewer waitlist spots will open up for the people who got into a second/third choices. So those people, in turn, will stick with the school they got into, and so on down the line.

Waitlists can't go away completely; there will always be people who get a spot at a nonparticipating charter, or decide to go private, or move away from DC unexpectedly.

I sounds like the algorhythm will be dofferent from DCPS, in that it will maximize the # of people who will get into a top choice. Will be interesting to read details when they are out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow, what do you want from a school system? In this scenario, you got your #1 choice. And you still want to be able to change schools at will? Finding out something isn't the right fit and having to deal with it is just part of life.

I agree with you that PP's concern is somewhat trivial compared to, say, a parent whose kid doesn't get in anywhere workable. But its still a legitimate concern. Its fairly irrational to thoroughly research a large number of schools before your kid has the opportunity to attend any of them, but this system seems to push you either to waste tons of time upfront or risk gambling on an uninformed choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, what do you want from a school system? In this scenario, you got your #1 choice. And you still want to be able to change schools at will? Finding out something isn't the right fit and having to deal with it is just part of life.

I agree with you that PP's concern is somewhat trivial compared to, say, a parent whose kid doesn't get in anywhere workable. But its still a legitimate concern. Its fairly irrational to thoroughly research a large number of schools before your kid has the opportunity to attend any of them, but this system seems to push you either to waste tons of time upfront or risk gambling on an uninformed choice.

It's not irrational to research all the schools you really want your kid to attend. After you weed out the ones that don't work logistically, and prioritize them based on your needs and educational focus, how many truly viable options are you left with? I'm interested in language immersion? There are only a handful of options for me to research. The problem is that some parents want to be able to pick and choose from all the schools then move around until they find the right fit. That's disruptive and I can't blame dcps for trying to minimize that practice.

[Anonymous]

Read up on the San Francisco school lottery system. The DC system is being based on a similar lottery premise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I agree. I have been against this from the first it was mentioned. I think the people pushing for it have to be the ones who either got shut out of school lotteries, simply because their luck was against them, and somehow think this will solve it.

The people who do the research and have luck on their side will continue to get into good schools they prefer. It may just cut it down to one acceptance, not 6. Yes, thereby giving 5 other families an acceptance. This is a good thing.

The people who randomly throw OOB and charter applications in the ring may still have luck on their side, they just might or might not get into a school that's a good fit for the family or their kid. This is exactly the system we have now: people randomly throwing charter applications in the ring. People have stopped doing random OOB picks because they need to weigh their options more carefully. The new system will force parents to evaluate and rank charters as well.

The people who don't do applications and send their kids to their neighborhood school simply because they don't care or can't get their child to another side of town or they don't know any difference between DCPS and DCPCS will still continue to send their kids to their neighborhood school by default. If these parents don't want to lottery, they don't have to. But if they have a preference, a school that they like and is close to them, they will be able to rank it first.

This doesn't even the playing field in terms of opportunity for the neediest in our city. The unified lottery is not meant to even the playing field; it's designed to help more people get into schools they like best.

This merges a system of neighborhood schools with a system of specialized and by-choice schools. Yes, by definition.

I think it takes away from parents' choices and ultimately undermines the entire concept of school choice. - Parents still have the same choices available to them. They will trade the possibility of many acceptances for a higher probability that they will get a school they really like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read up on the San Francisco school lottery system. The DC system is being based on a similar lottery premise.

Here is a summary of the SF system: http://blog.pacunion.com/san-francisco-public-school-lottery/

Sounds like people who rank a school highly are more likely to get in. From the article, it notes the lottery is held in several rounds: "The first round of school assignments go out in March, but families still have several other rounds, as well as wait lists, if they’re willing to hold out for a different school."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Read up on the San Francisco school lottery system. The DC system is being based on a similar lottery premise.

Do you know what are the benefits and weaknesses of the SF system? Are the residents happy with it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read up on the San Francisco school lottery system. The DC system is being based on a similar lottery premise.

Here is a summary of the SF system: http://blog.pacunion.com/san-francisco-public-school-lottery/

Sounds like people who rank a school highly are more likely to get in. From the article, it notes the lottery is held in several rounds: "The first round of school assignments go out in March, but families still have several other rounds, as well as wait lists, if they’re willing to hold out for a different school."

Ok, I'm getting confused now. I'd. DC eliminating IB preference?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read up on the San Francisco school lottery system. The DC system is being based on a similar lottery premise.

Here is a summary of the SF system: http://blog.pacunion.com/san-francisco-public-school-lottery/

Sounds like people who rank a school highly are more likely to get in. From the article, it notes the lottery is held in several rounds: "The first round of school assignments go out in March, but families still have several other rounds, as well as wait lists, if they’re willing to hold out for a different school."

Ok, I'm getting confused now. I'd. DC eliminating IB preference?

I don't think so. You still can go to your IB school for k and above as a matter of right. I think it is more the "swap" part of the lottery to maximize too choices: http://blog.sfishome.com/san-francisco/san-francisco-public-school-lottery-explained/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Read up on the San Francisco school lottery system. The DC system is being based on a similar lottery premise.

Here is a summary of the SF system: http://blog.pacunion.com/san-francisco-public-school-lottery/

Sounds like people who rank a school highly are more likely to get in. From the article, it notes the lottery is held in several rounds: "The first round of school assignments go out in March, but families still have several other rounds, as well as wait lists, if they’re willing to hold out for a different school."

Ok, I'm getting confused now. I'd. DC eliminating IB preference?

I don't think so. You still can go to your IB school for k and above as a matter of right. I think it is more the "swap" part of the lottery to maximize too choices: http://blog.sfishome.com/san-francisco/san-francisco-public-school-lottery-explained/

.

Thanks for explaining. The Wapo article is short on details, and I don't like certain aspects of San Francisco's lottery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why a charter has the option of declining to participate. Why shouldn't the PCSB mandate this as a condition to receiving public funds. It's not like an individual DCPS can opt out.

The PCSB doesn't decide who gets public funds, it decides who merits and continues to follow a charter.

Of course a charter should have the option to decline - the charter law is federal law. The PCSB has no oversight of federal law.