LogFAQs > #950500528

LordoftheMorons posted...

These schools are not appropriate for most students and can be very stressful places for those insufficiently prepared or interested. I went to a magnet school and loved it, but there were some kids forced to go by their parents who would have been much happier at their base high schools. If Im not misreading Tony was identified by testing, which seems like an example of the system working?

With the lottery, even the absolutely most qualified students who would be absolutely wasting their time at their base high schools are in most cases rejected. Furthermore, the reason these schools are good in the first place is primarily not because theyre given more resources or have the best teachers; its the accumulation of the critical mass of students necessary to offer more advanced coursework. If the students are the same as in any other school in the district the concept falls apart and youre not even offering anything special to the students who were lucky enough to attend.

(It probably doesnt collapse entirely to a normal school because of selection effects, but a lot of the kids applying will be doing so because their parents made them anyway).

There are many kids who would thrive at a more challenging school who won't be selected to go there because the system misses their potential.

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September 1, 2003; November 4, 2007; September 2, 2013
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