Reply to "DC really has School Chance, not School Choice"

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Reply to ""DC really has School Chance, not School Choice""

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I would contend that chance is better than no choice at all.

Just because you didn't get your choice doesn't mean that someone else didn't either.[/quote]

I would argue that you are wrong and the majority of families don't like lotterying education. [/quote]

I really don't think I'm all that wrong and I'd suggest you take a deeper look beyond a simplistic question of "do you like the lottery".

It's pretty clear that given the fact that nearly half of the students in DC are in charters and the fact that there are many more who still want to get into charters and many more charters being applied for with strong interest behind them quite clearly says they still want to have choice even if that means by lottery.

Yes, some are frustrated that they didn't get into their first-choice school.  But for every one who didn't another one did.  And getting into your second-choice school rather than your first-choice school may still be a whole lot better than if you didn't try the lottery at all.  Just because some don't like lotteries doesn't mean they don't still want choice.   People definitely want choice, they just want the mechanism for getting into their desired schools tweaked.  But the problem is that nobody agrees on how to tweak it.  If, for example, schools were given more latitude in terms of admissions (like test in) rather than lottery, that would satisfy many families, but anger many others.  [/quote]

Your argument misses out on the families that leave DC once they have "lost" the lottery, or who shy away from playing at all, since they have seen others fail.

The city will not improve if the middle class leaves again. Perhaps your are new to DC, but this recent growth trend in population started BEFORE the lotteries and charter schools, not because of it. Urban renewal is happening in urban areas throughout the country, and is not a direct result of school choice wooing families to stay in DC.

The "choice" you describe includes leaving the city, regardless of income level. Until DC recognizes they should actively attract a range of income levels, there is no hope to magically balance the schools out by busing or a lottery system.
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Different poster - I don't understand your point about families moving out?  More and more families are moving IN to DC, and the choices for schools are actually IMproving, not getting worse.  Of course there are families who, if they strike out in the public lotteries, they will leave DC.  But overall families are apparently deciding that DC is worth it because middle and upper class families are *staying* in DC more and more right now.  The lottery is clearly frustrating to those who don't luck out with their favorite choices, but a lot of families end up really liking their 2nd and 3rd choices and they stay, and for the families who were always going to leave for private for middle school or move out of DC, well that has been going on for ages.  But it's decreasing, not increasing.[/quote]

This influx of families will reverse if the middle and high schools are subject to lotteries as well. [/quote]

Really? Why? Or are you just talking about Deal and Wilson being subject to lottery?[/quote]

Because when DC is hostile to middle class families, they leave.  Montgomery County, Fairfax County, and PG County have ALL prospered enormously as a result.  More than one wave of middle class families have left the city when the city ignored  their needs.[/quote]

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