@Medievalist, that’s all interesting and no doubt true in some places, but you seem to be ignoring my data that it’s not true here. This Magnet is most definitely not selecting by class. I’d say college educated parents are far less than 40%. And there’s an explicit racial quota system to reflect the city’s demographics, something I’m not exactly comfortable with. 25% white, 25% Asian, 25% Black, 25% Hispanic. In practice, any Asian who can plausibly lie about being one of the others does. So while the school says it’s 18% white, there were only 3 white boys in my son’s class of 180.
Great. How? You said schools should be funded equitably from the state level. I agree 100%. Are you familiar with the history of the Abbott court decision and it’s aftermath in NJ? It mandated equitable spending in urban schools, and after 20 years has had no real effect. Educating poor urban kids of uneducated low functioning parents is a problem no one has solved no matter how much money you throw at it. Even in our fabulous charter, some kids from that background just didn’t drink the education kool aid, even with a parent motivated enough to enter the lottery.
