Klein Considers More ‘Equitable' Middle School Admissions Process

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein is considering changing the middle schools admissions process to make it more equitable, he told parents at a Chancellor's Parent Advisory Council meeting yesterday.

The current system favors children with well-connected parents, not the highest-performing students, he said, adding that the department would try to implement changes by the 2008 school year.

"Any time you have a choice program, you have got to make sure they're equitable," Mr. Klein said. "Those spots were based on performance, not on who you know."

He said the idea is still in a preliminary stage and did not outline a specific proposal. The plan could revive a conflict that has roiled some school districts with limited seats in high-performing schools.

Some parents on the Upper West Side fought the introduction of a lottery system in their district to allocate the extra seats in elementary schools. Critics of that system said it allowed parents with connections, who were often white and economically well off, to get their children into the schools of their choice while other parents, often minorities and low-income, were left out.

A parent of three public school children from the Upper West Side, Eric Nelson, said he was worried that changes to the current system would end up flooding the best middle schools with new applicants.

"What Tweed has done so far has only been to increase the number of families fighting for the same limited number of seats in good programs," he said, referring to the Department of Education headquarters at Tweed Courthouse. "What they should be doing is increasing the number of good programs so that we don't all have to fight over a number of seats that's simply not enough."

Scores for statewide reading and math scores released during the past month show a steady decline in student achievement through the elementary school grades to the middle school grades, with eighth-graders performing the worst on tests. In response to the scores, Mr. Klein said the department is focusing on improving instruction in middle schools.