“Somewhere inside the jumble of narrow beige corridors on Poland Avenue in the Upper 9th Ward, in the state-run Recovery School District’s headquarters, someone will hit a button on a computer in the next few weeks, and presto: Almost all of the roughly 28,000 students in New Orleans who applied for a seat this fall at one of the district’s 67 schools will be assigned a place. With that final keystroke, the school system will move for the first time from a frustrating, ad-hoc enrollment process handled at individual campuses to one centralized at district offices. Every child will get a spot. But because schools don’t have an infinite number of seats and some schools will doubtless prove more popular than others, not every family will get their top pick… For parents, there are some key ideas to keep in mind. The experts who developed the algorithm — folks from Duke, Harvard and MIT — say there is no way to game the system. If what you really want is a seat at KIPP Renaissance High School, you should not rank Sci Academy first, thinking that you’re more likely to get your second choice. Ranking KIPP as your top choice gives you your best shot at getting in.”
By Andrew Vanacore