Stay true to your school
When discussing the District of Choice dilemma, it is important to consider all the different ways schools are affected — and they are affected, to a tremendous extent.
From an academic standpoint, schools are impacted because of what some call “Bright Flight.” Top students who choose to attend a school outside of their area will take their high test scores with them.
Ultimately, there is a connection between all of these consequences: The rich get richer and the poor get poorer,
The disparity in average test scores that results is detrimental to the schools that these students do not attend, as test scores are a significant indicator of school rank.
The financial circumstances of the schools that lose students are also degraded. Districts that “feed” students lose [that average daily attendance]. When there is less money for these schools, there are consequently fewer programs — both in academics and extracurriculars — for the students that choose to stay. These remaining students are thus penalized for their decisions, and that should not happen.
Aside from academics and fundings, the athletic department is adversely affected as well. It is common knowledge that parents and students “shop” for a school that will meet their athletic needs. They look for certain coaches to follow, traditionally successful programs to join and, most importantly, a school that will offer their child the most exposure.
Ultimately, there is a connection between all of these consequences: The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
My beliefs regarding District of Choice are old-school. Students should attend the school in the area that they live in. Most of the time, this area is where their friendships reside. The people these students attended elementary school with, played youth sports with and grew up in the same neighborhood with are important. All of these bonds developed over the years are difficult to leave behind.
Stay true to your school!
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brenna gutell • Sep 1, 2016 at 7:33 pm
You make a lot of good points, but there is no way to know the students Thriving in the doc program who have high scores would have those same scores if they stayed at their home school. Also not everyone cares about sports & why should some students suffer academically so others can have better options. The great thing about doc is that anyone can apply & the names are chosen with a lottery so there is no bias.
YesOnDOC • Aug 31, 2016 at 10:34 pm
This is about having a choice for the parents. Districts need to earn the trust of parents for them stay within their District. A lot of times the Districts are beyond repairable so parents move to the next best District. You cannot fix something that has been broken for many decades in a short period of time. Stop holding students back on learning. If you care about your students in your neighborhood then you should let the students choose their learning institutions. When students go to colleges they get to choose a college to attend. You don’t hear college students saying they can’t go to a certain college due to District boundaries. Yes on DOC!
Eddie Lam • Aug 31, 2016 at 4:53 pm
I go to walnut valley school district. I never heard of them being a powerhouse of sports. There is also no bright flight. You are assuming only smart kids leave bad schools. The only reason students leave a poor performing school is because their parents want a better school and future for their kids, pretty basic 101.
I paid for my home is Walnut, which cost me about 3 x more then a home in comparable, Azusa. If I was a parent from Azusa, I would just say thank you to me for paying for my school with my high property tax and walk away, like it was a Black Friday sale.