Applying to A Charter School In PA
Updated: Thursday, 30 Sep 2010, 9:32 AM EDT
Right now there are 3 films out, including 'Waiting for Superman', which look at how the education system is failing students. In all 3 movies, the charter school systems are painted in a positive light. The problem is getting into some of these schools is often a game of chance, dictated by first-come, first-serve process, or even a lottery.
Fox 29's Claudia Gomez's story today focused on the process of admission and if the perception is true that you have to know someone to get in.
According to Pennsylvania law, if a charter school receives more applications than it can handle, it's required to hold a lottery.
That, of course, sets up a kid for disappointment if he/she does not "win". Many of their parents then start to believe the system is rigged, so they call their local lawmaker or ask someone "connected" to call the school.
Lawrence Jones, CEO of the Richard Allan Prep Charter School told Claudia, "They want to do anything that's possible to get their child in, and we're saying that we can't do it. So now parents are frustrated. Parents are angry. And I can't fault them in the least."
His school has a waiting list of 400 kids. This is not so bad compared to other charter schools in Philadelphia that have a wait list comprised of 2,000 or 3,000 kids.
After talking to three different charter school CEO, Claudia reports that the system herein Philly, does sound fair and consistent.
By state law, every single student in Philadelphia is eligible, no matter who he or she knows. The only exception to the lottery, per state law, is that the sibling(s) of a current student are allowed in and if the child is the offspring of that charter school's founding board member.
The waiting list for charter schools in Philadelphia is currently over 20,000.
The Philadelphia School District puts a cap on enrollment, on the 74 charter schools within the district. This means that no matter how great the demands, each school can only accept a certain number of students.
The district will not comment, because one charter school filed a lawsuit against that cap last week.