"now that district 15 middle schools are lottery..."

By Joyce Szuflita
This has been a big change and not so much. I explain my take on this over and over every day, so I thought that I would write about it here. It is “big”, because parents and the district recognized that encouraging diversity in all of the 11 middle schools in the district would benefit everyone; the students, the schools, and the community. It was also an enthusiastic nudge for many parents to look past the few well known popular favorites…and it has worked pretty well.

What we know:
A. The placement method has not changed. Kids are still placed through the “Medical School Match” as they have been for over a decade. They still get to rank schools in preference order - AS THEY ALWAYS HAVE. That is super powerful and it is why the designers of this algorithm won the Nobel Prize in Economics. Families in the district like different schools. They generally like schools that are closer to home.

B. In the old days - about 75% of families got one of their top choices. Now about 75% of families get one of their top choices. This information is anecdotal, but I would regularly poll the Parent Coordinators of local public schools in years before the DI as well as the years after. Some of those families are different these days (and some of the schools they are ranking are different!). In the past, there were always a few kids who didn’t get placed in the schools they want. Now there are always a few kids who didn’t get placed in the schools that they want. When that happens they are placed somewhere in their home district where there is room. You will NOT be sent to some far off neighborhood. There are more than enough seats in D15 for all of you.

C. 52% of families (low-income, ELL and/or living in temporary housing) are prioritized for all schools, but it is not a mandate or a quota. That is why the percentages fluctuate from year to year. The side of the match where families state their preference is very, very important to this match. Some of the schools popular with families not in the priority group do not meet the 52%, and some do. The District has said that they will recalculate that percentage each year to reflect the population of the district.

Percentage of Priority Group in 2020 (low-income, ELL and/or living in temporary housing):
51 William Alexander 56%
88 Peter Roget 60%
136 Charles O. Dewey 92%
442 School of Innovation 48%
443 New Voices 58%
446 Park Slope Collegiate 34%
447 Math and Science Exploratory School 48%
448 Collaborative Studies 40%
497 Boerum Hill School for International Studies 44%
821 Sunset Park Prep 82%
839 48%

D. We aren’t going to have any data about “how it is going” because we won’t have test data for at least 2 years because of Covid.

E. Some families have left the system, but not the huge flight that was anticipated by some. From my anecdotal view of the district, the families that I meet with are cautiously optimistic and they are clear that they have to expand their research to programs that are outside the circle of schools that they and their friends are familiar with. I hear this every day: “I just toured ___, and you know, I REALLY liked it!” Yes. Just because a lot of people from your elementary school haven’t gone there, doesn’t mean that it isn’t “good”. Families are now ranking different schools and different schools are emerging as favorites. The herd mentality at middle school is very strong, both for kids and for parents. The natural growth of “familiarity” that was happening slowly within the district has happily accelerated because of the Diversity Initiative.

F. The stress of perfect attendance and arms race of achievement that created the stressful, screened, “beauty contest” aspect of choice is gone. 4th graders in D15 can now focus on learning rather than anxiety filled strategic gymnastics that often didn’t play out. Also, the rest of the City is holding their breath to see if they are going to have to change their cultures under Covid. Not D15. Solid, thoughtful, business as usual.

Read about this from others:
Chalkbeat
Washington Post - a great very well researched article but likely behind their pay wall.
Gothamist