Save the date: May 3rd Supper with the Super

At last night’s PTA Council meeting, Dr. Wiegand mentioned another “Supper with the Superintendent”, to be held at BTW. Among other things, a special guest will be new Police Chief Anthony Cobb, as well as a “walk the neighborhood”.

We are not the only ones with School "Lottery" problems

A parent from Wake County (North Carolina) contacted me with questions about Alves and the Lottery program. As part of the historical context and the current environment in Wake County, the parent referenced this blog:

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/wakeed/critics-questioning-transparency-of-new-wake-county-student-assignment-plan#storylink=misearch

Wow.

One particular quote that jumped out at me while I was reading this was from Dr. Stacey Robinson:

“Basically, there is NO priority ranking for your 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th choices. After you made your 1st choice for a school which you were made to believe had far more available seats than was LATER PROVEN to be the case, your priority was completely wasted. Your 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th choices are now based on nothing more than your WCPSS-assigned “Random Number.” You have now been entered into our own version of the Wake County Public School System’s MegaMillions Lottery. It’s all now a game of chance.”

Wake County is significantly larger than Champaign Unit 4 (like 147,000 students!), and their lottery system is a bit more complex (they have 8 “Priorities” and several “Rounds”). But they still have the same kind of frustration and confusion we have.

A small part of me can