Manhattan school admission getting tighter, but G&T programs more open
After all of the debate on this blog last week over school admissions and the headaches the process causes, I was wondering whether it is actually getting harder to get into desirable schools in Manhattan than it used to be. The answer appears to be both yes and no.
On the one hand, Districts 2 and 3 are adding population far faster than they are adding school seats. According to a report released last week by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer's office, in four areas at risk for overcrowding, city officials approved new residential buildings that could add as many as 2,300 children to the neighborhoods' schools — but added only 143 school seats in those areas. As those buildings get finished and families move in, school admissions pressure can only heat up.
But at the same time, the recent change in G&T admissions policy actually increased the percentage of children in districts 2 and 3 who meet eligibility requirements. As Eduwonkette noted in the comments to an earlier Insideschools blog post last week, she estimates that the percentage of children in District 2 classified as gifted increased this year from 7.1 to 15.2 percent; in District 3: an increase from 13.8 to 22.3 percent. So while the pressure may be on for neighborhood school admission, more families in these areas may have the option to choose a district-wide G&T program.
5 comments:
But even if more kids qualified for district wide programs, seats haven't been added to Anderson, TAG or Lower Lab, so how does that change the situation one bit? It's still the same number of kids competing for the same number of seats, different ones just may end up in different slots. It's like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.
Sadly nothing matters re: the G&T b/c the DOE is keeping in a sibling policy. For many of the newcombers, getting a G&T spot in any decent G&T program feels kind of hopeless.
What makes me laugh is that there's absolutely no information available on the curriculum of these G&T programs, how it differs from a "regular" curriculum, and what makes it so desirable, anyway. Is it just to give frantic Manhattan moms a fancy label for their kids?
Yes. (re: the above)
Here is what I don't understand: what difference does it make if the seat your child is assigned says general ed, G&T or super-duper G&T, since said chair still needs to be located in said building in which there is no room for more kids. No room means physically no room. Or do G&T kids bend the laws of physics so they don't take up as much space as the rabble?
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