Reply to Elementary School hopping and How much Choice is too much?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The thing that bothers me about the school hopping is that, at least during early childhood, the changes are not always based on the actual experience of the child. They're based on the preferences of the parent. I'm not talking about leaving English-only for dual language, because that is more understandable to me. Many of my friends are super concerned about getting their 3yo into a good feeder pattern, and since there is only one feeder pattern that is acceptable, they are all jockeying to get into some elementary school that feeds to Deal, without considering whether the elementary school is the best fit for their child or their family or whether DEAL is the best fit for their child or their family, 6 years down the road.

It is kind of crazy-making to hear the following over and over:

"Susie has had such a great year at EOTP school but we are transferring to WOTP school next year. Yes, we know that it'll take an hour and change to get there, then get to work, but it's worth it, because we really want her to go to Deal."[/quote]

This won't change until the EOTP schools get better in the upper grades (beyond 2nd) and the EOTP middle/high schools improve. I really can't blame parents for thinking in the long-term, especially if they own their property and can't easily move.[/quote]

I understand and agree with this logic, but I also think that the likelihood of these things happening all on their own without the families of high achieving students is small. Clearly throwing money at the problem and building fancy new buildings is not going to solve the problem. So how does it happen? [/quote]

Money and fancy new buildings may not close the achievement gap (because poverty and all that jazz).  But some of these EOTP schools are teaching kids really well - just look at student growth.

So one step you can take is to check your assumptions about what makes a school "better".[/quote]

I'm the PP you're responding to. I'm not worried about my assumptions. We didn't play the lottery this year. We're not planning on playing again in elementary school. I'm not sold on our feeder middle school but I'm also not opposed to it and am willing to give it a few more years before I make any decisions about what DD needs, because she is in kindergarten and if we need to move, we can move. I know what goes on in the upper grades at my school. I know the teachers and I know the struggles they have in the classroom. I see the quality education and the kids and I am hopeful and proud of those kids. My concern is that the parents I know who have young children who are hedging their bets by playing the lottery every year do not see things the way that I see them.

My hope is that the test scores will increase as more people come into the system during Early Childhood and stay, either because they (like me) are willing to stay somewhere that seems just fine or because there are not enough open spaces for them to escape to another school. My fear is that that will not happen and it's another cycle of buyer's remorse and another cycle of "What do you know, with your futile optimism?"[/quote]

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