petedogg t1_j9phr5f wrote
Reply to comment by AbsentEmpire in Every year, there are more applicants to Philly charters than seats. But demand is still lower than before the pandemic. by AbsentEmpire
It depends on where you live. Many of the public schools in Center City and adjacent neighborhoods are just fine, especially for grades K-5. Charters might be helpful for families living in neighborhoods further outside of CC if there hasn’t been a critical mass of families choosing to invest and engage in their neighborhood school. There are families (mine included) for whom school isn’t the primary factor for choosing where to live. Some of us actually enjoy being in a place where we don’t need a car, can teach our kids independence by taking septa on their own, can walk to the local park to meet friends, etc. I would not give those up simply for the possibility that my kid might get a better education and more life and career opportunities as a result of going to a suburban school.
There are also a ton of free and easily accessible programs and resources available to Philly public school kids that suburban kids don’t get access to. Even just naming the programs I’ve heard about recently in the past week: someone just told me about a free rowing camp on the Schuylkill exclusively for public school kids in the city. Or a free two week orchestra camp primarily for Philly district public school kids at the Mann Center run by the Philadelphia Orchestra. There are countless other examples.
AbsentEmpire OP t1_j9pqlaj wrote
These are all valid reasons to stay in the city with kids. Although the Northeast is pretty car dependent, so I don't think that's a factor here in the number of people opting to apply for charters.
I think the article would have benefited from also listing total school age children within the city, and the numbers going to public and private to get a real sence of what families are doing.
For my partner and I we've already agreed that we won't be sending our kid to the public schools here. I grew up here and went to the city schools, and it wasn't great back in the 90s. The in school violence and out of control behavior has only got worse since, and the academic quality was bad then and it's bad now. My partner went to school in the burbs and hearing about his and his friends experiences honestly makes me jealous. I don't want my kids to go through what I had to here, especially when my partner and I can afford other options.
It's either we win the lottery and get into one of get into one of the good charters (unlikely), go private, or move to one of the few streetcar suburbs around the city to get a walkable environment. The magnet school lottery isn't something I like, and basically would require that after elementary we either win the lottery and get into one, pay an ass load of money for private, or move out to the burbs for the secondary school grades.
Moving out for schools historically is what people have opted to do in Philly, but that may be changing, which is why I thought the article was interesting.
petedogg t1_j9pw9g3 wrote
I don’t judge any parent’s decision to do what they feel is best for their kid but at the same time, I think it’s unfortunate when people (not saying you) do so with a lack of accurate understanding of the Philly public schools. It’s unfair to characterize all Philly public schools as dangerous and offering a poor quality of education. Yes, this is true of many schools in the district. But not all. Almost all kids who live in CC or an adjacent neighborhood and get As and Bs with a clean behavioral and attendance record will get into a magnet middle school and magnet high school which will set them up to go to a highly ranked university. If that’s what you and you kid want of course. That’s not the life track for everyone but for those who want it, the Philly public schools will not get in the way of that (depending on what neighborhood you live in).
Of course, I wish every kid in Philly had access to the same educational experience as those who attend Meredith, Greenfield, Masterman, Central, etc. but to be fair, no big city has really figured this out.
AbsentEmpire OP t1_j9pyow3 wrote
I overall agree with you.
I'd be hesitant to say almost all center city kids with good grades and attendance will get into one of the magnet schools though. The school district is changing the admissions and selection criteria for the magnet schools to be based less on academic merit and more on zip code.
A change which I would understand parents looking at, and opting instead for private schools or moving, rather than rolling the dice based on previous admissions standards.
The way the school district functions is a major disservice to families looking to raise their kids in an urban environment, and the city as a whole. Hopefully it will improve in the future so families don't have to have these discussions or have to be financially well off enough that it's not an issue.
a-german-muffin t1_j9q1873 wrote
> The school district is changing the admissions and selection criteria for the magnet schools to be based less on academic merit and more on zip code.
This is borderline misinformation. There's a lottery, yes, but you can't even get into it without meeting the academic requirements - like no one's snagging a spot at Masterman just because they happen to be from 19121. The standards are still there.
It's not to say the lottery's perfect or doesn't create its own set of issues, but the chances of someone getting denied at every magnet are low (and this is coming from a parent who just went through the high school selection process with one kiddo who got into five magnets immediately and came off the waitlist on another within a week).
aranhalaranja t1_j9x3oc1 wrote
I had thought the lottery was completely open. Open to anyone. Do you have any links to this info? Is there a centralized site offering info on how standards have changed for the magnet schools ?
a-german-muffin t1_j9yg1qb wrote
Sure, you could probably waste your time and apply to schools without meeting the requirements, but you’re not getting into the lottery for those schools in that case.
It’s all on the district’s school selection page.
aranhalaranja t1_ja6bxqx wrote
a-german-muffin t1_ja77ut8 wrote
Yeah, I read that and commented several times in the thread here yesterday. It’s highly likely that’s a one-year blip because PSSAs couldn’t be used for admissions — they weren’t required for two years because of COVID.
Please read the standards on the SDP website and show me where it says you can get in with substandard scores otherwise.
petedogg t1_j9q000w wrote
I’m sure there will be changes. That being said, I stick with my statement that almost all kids with good grades get into a magnet school. I hear it was extremely rare for a student who met all the qualification criteria not get into a magnet high school if they applied to five. There should be a way to prevent that scenario from occurring. And yes, there are at least five “good” magnet high schools. Even beyond the 5-6 schools that are widely regarded as being the “best”, the school district is very accommodating to kids who want to be challenged further regardless of what school they attend and pays for them to take classes at local universities which end up being better than AP classes in some ways since they’re actual college classes.
[deleted] t1_j9yrifo wrote
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