Equality versus Quality in Schools
This morning's column in the Times by Jerry Large sheds some light on my question about why Franklin was popular earlier in this decade (are we really on the downside of the decade, how? when? did that happen) and now is not quite as popular. What it points to is that too much change too quickly (in Franklin's case change in leadership and programming) can make parents uneasy.
Time has gone by so fast I had forgotten about the Supreme Court case about Seattle's tie-breaker. It is time for that decision to come down. I'm pretty sure (just based on the performance of SPS's lawyer before the Court) that the District will lose its case. It will be interesting to see if a new tiebreaker, like socio-economic status, will appear in discussions about the assignment plan.
Time has gone by so fast I had forgotten about the Supreme Court case about Seattle's tie-breaker. It is time for that decision to come down. I'm pretty sure (just based on the performance of SPS's lawyer before the Court) that the District will lose its case. It will be interesting to see if a new tiebreaker, like socio-economic status, will appear in discussions about the assignment plan.
Comments
I think in the end the goals should be
a - make all schools good schools with a lot more help with the schools that have more disadvantaged students and
b - to truly diversify schools fairly, you need to find a way to create affordable housing in every area of the city
In the North it is more segregated because of housing costs. In the South and West Seattle, it is more segregated because there aren't as many good school options so those that can afford go to private school.
Using race as a tiebreaker the way SPS used to implement it just doesn't make sense. I think I would be supportive of a tiebreaker that was based on income levels, but as the other commenters on this thread point out, it is reasonable for families to be allowed to send their children to their neighborhood school, if that is what they want, so any attempts to diversify the schools need to be approached carefully.
Did you attend the hearing? I am interested on your critque of Mike Madden's performance. Or were you refering to his performanced based on listening to or reading the transcript?
Marie
Two conflciting ideas, choice and neighborhood. Both really don't work. My greater question is which way should the Board go on student assignment, nieghborhood opt out is the rumoured plan
Mr. Madden was grilled by some of the Justices in his legal support of discrimination (the racial tiebreaker) by the Seattle School District. From my point of view, it is a difficult position to justify.
One thing that most people do not understand about this lawsuit is that the crux of the problem is that Queen Anne and Magnolia do not have a neighborhood high school. If the U.S. Supreme Court rules against the Seattle School District and the school board then opts to use a socio-economic tiebreaker, the students of Magnolia and Queen Anne will be "screwed" again. Many students in the Laurelhurst and Windermere neighborhoods will be affected by this tiebreaker as well, because they do not live close to Roosevelt or Eckstein. Most of these families do not qualify for free and reduced lunches, but that does not mean that they are all affluent and want to or can send their children to private schools. They just want to send their kids to a neighborhood school. Imagine that!
This year was a very large demographic year and many 8th graders were denied access to their neighborhood high school when the only tiebreaker being used was sibling.
It is only going to get worse demographically.
The Seattle School District needs to open up another high school in the north end ASAP. They also need to keep focusing on improving the undersubscribed high schools.
Until your child is told that they cannot attend three different high schools because they have the wrong color of skin, you don't get it.
Until your child has to spend up to two hours on a public bus coming home from school after attending an afterschool program, you just don't understand how great neighborhood schools are. You be the one to tell a student that Mom and Dad make too much money, so that they have to go to a school clear across the city. How many of you want to fill out the private financial forms? Walk in my shoes, and then we'll talk.
The need for more North End Schools is the real issue. When mandatory busing was instituted, north end parents fled the district and building were closed leaving the NE cluster with 6 elementary schools, 1 middle school, 2 high schools, 1 alternative K-5, and 1 all-city alternative K-12.
Except for the K-12 alternative (Summit) each of the NE cluster schools is filled beyond capacity with no space to expand.
The color of your skin or the finances of your family are not going to keep kids off of buses, we need buildings in the northeast while at the same time buildings need to be closed in the south, central and southwest. It's not a popular decision, but it is a matter of supply and demand.
There has been a lot of discussion about assignment plans and eliminating choice. For me the real issue should be eliminating transportation costs and providing capacity at the schools in the neighborhoods where the kids live. 80-90% of the parents are going to choose their neighborhood school, the remaining will choose schools based on the needs of their children. For those choosing to go outside their neighborhood school, transportation should be provided on a charged basis or free for those qualified for Free/Reduced Lunch.