Reply to Fairness of Common Lottery?

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Reply to "Fairness of Common Lottery?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I certainly don't have an alternative, but it really is frustrating when you see that your number one choice was the number 12 choice for many people who got in.  You genuinely want that spot in that school- for whatever reason.  You love the location, the curriculum, the people, etc. But, while you have to hear everyone moaning and complaining about how awful their spot in your favorite school is... you are Crossing your fingers that they will drop their spot, waiting patiently all summer for a spot to open, calling throughout September, moving your child last minute... its just frustrating.

It does seem like a person who genuinely wants a school should have preference over someone who really could care less.

But, like I said, I have no alternative to propose.[/quote]

I think it's a mistake to say that someone who ranked their school 12 could care less. The choices in DC are so stark that #12 could be a big step up from being shut out.

But I don't think that scenario really happens. I don't believe that there is any grade in DC where there are more than 10 schools that don't take every kid who applies. Maybe pre-k?

That said, one solution would be to limit the number of choices. Twelve is kind of ridiculous, there's no way a family can make informed decisions about that many schools. If people were limited to six choices the choices would be more meaningful.  It would also mean that more people would be shut out and more would be placed in the second round. I suspect that OSSE recognizes that choices 6-12 are essentially the same as random assignment, it's just administratively easier to assign as many kids as possible in the first round of the lottery.[/quote]

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