{"id":9588,"date":"2011-11-17T09:53:41","date_gmt":"2011-11-17T14:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raleighpublicrecord.org\/?p=9588"},"modified":"2013-03-25T10:13:53","modified_gmt":"2013-03-25T14:13:53","slug":"unlocking-controlled-choice-assignment-part-2-balance-with-magnets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/news\/2011\/11\/17\/unlocking-controlled-choice-assignment-part-2-balance-with-magnets\/","title":{"rendered":"Unlocking Controlled-Choice Assignment Part 2: Balance with Magnets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: This story is Part Two of a three-part series. Read Part One<\/a>. If you have any questions about the controlled-choice assignment plan, feel free to post them on the discussion forum. We will be happy to answer your questions. If we don\u2019t know the answer, we\u2019ll find out from Wake County schools for you.<\/em><\/p>\n

Wake County\u2019s magnet program was started in 1982 to improve racial integration. Today, it bears the responsibility of integrating race, poverty and achievement more than ever.<\/p>\n

The new controlled-choice assignment plan passed by the Wake County School Board earlier this year states the purpose of magnet schools is to \u201chelp mitigate the spread of high-poverty schools\u201d and \u201creduce high concentrations of poverty and support diverse populations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new assignment process itself<\/a> values balancing schools by student achievement as a substitute for socio-economic status, but it is low on the list of priorities.<\/p>\n

With socio-economic diversity no longer a factor in where a child goes to school, magnets are one of the only tools in the new plan to address high-poverty schools. The plan in its current form does not attempt to reduce the current 22 percent of schools where more than 50 percent of students receive free and reduced lunch.<\/p>\n

Jayne Fleener, dean of the College of Education at NC State University, said once a school is perceived as being undesirable it is very difficult to change that image.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to retain the best teachers. It\u2019s hard to think about changing cultures,\u201d she said. \u201cOften times the result is that you focus so much on achievement that you make schools less desirable and less interesting and less dynamic for the kids, so it becomes a vicious cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Magnets, she said, are at the crux of what is keeping Wake County schools strong.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now the positive in Wake County is that we have some really strong magnet schools or schools of choice that parents will continue to send their children to even though they are not in their local neighborhood,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Different Magnets Do Different Things<\/strong>
\nThe plan establishes three types of magnet schools with one type in particular shouldering the responsibility to prevent high-poverty schools.<\/p>\n

Group 1 magnets are located in \u201chistorically lower-performing and\/or higher-poverty areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Group 2 magnets are located in areas where they can \u201ccompete with charter and private schools.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Group 3 magnets are located outside Raleigh and \u201cdesigned to bring specialized programming to those areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given the different objectives of the magnet groups, each has a different percentage of \u201cmagnet\u201d seats \u2014 seats for students who do not live nearby \u2014 and \u201cproximity\u201d seats.<\/p>\n

Group 1 magnet schools are allocated 40 to 45 percent proximity seats and 55 to 60 percent magnet seats.<\/p>\n

Group 2 magnet schools are allocated 55 to 60 percent proximity seats. As with Group 1 magnets, these percentages allow the balance to be tipped in favor of higher-performing, lower-poverty areas to keep the schools desirable.<\/p>\n

Group 3 schools are allocated just 10 to 20 percent proximity seats.<\/p>\n

Elementary Magnet Schools by Group<\/strong>
\nGroup 1 = red
\nGroup 2 = yellow
\nGroup 3 = green<\/em>
\n