Admissions: Still sifting through the fallout
It's the last full Friday of the school year, and it seems that we can say with confidence, at long last, that all admissions placements (save for upper-grade g+t) have been made. The appeals cycle has begun, and although we're still waiting for word from the DOE on when, exactly, the g+t second round deadline might be, readers write in of registrations and transitions to new schools.
Not that the registrations are going smoothly. Most are, but we've heard from families with acceptance letters not appearing on their new school's list, of kids boxed out of zoned schools and offered seats at distant g+t programs as consolation, and from parents whose children scored well above the g+t cut but who didn't receive seats -- anywhere. We've heard, as you have, of programs that won't open, and of others that are overfull, on the risky gamble that some students may opt for other situations come fall. We've also heard from lots of readers reconsidering their quest for g+t, and opting for zoned schools instead.
We've also heard from Lisabeth Sostre, formerly of District 3, and one of the architect of their middle-school choice program, who counsels parents to harness their political power -- "the strength you have as parents is huge" -- and demand answers on a swath of education issues from whoever aspires to next reside in Gracie Mansion. (See "And the Winner Is..." from June 18th, here, for a heartbreakingly apt take on DOE mishaps.)
A savvy sixth-grader in Amanda Fairbanks's post on City Room says it best; there's likely not a parent who's been though the admissions maelstrom this year who wouldn't agree with her sharp-eyed
summa: "I'm just glad I survived it. We should have a party for that.”
