8,110 Apply For
2,400 Magnet Seats

I encourage people to watch "An Inconvenient Truth Behind 'Waiting for Superman'" that exposes much of the hype of charter schools.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Inconvenient_Truth_Behind_Waiting_for_Superman

Has the word gone out yet? Do people know?

There is some confusion among folks who couldn't make it to the lottery yesterday. Some of us received an email that said we would hear via email today; others say letters will only go out by snail mail on the 25th. There's no email yet so right now it's only parents who were at the lottery who know.

We received a notification as well saying results would be emailed today. Nothing has been received.

To NotMyFirstName: I don't need to watch the movie, I've lived the issues. I've already pulled one daughter out of my neighborhood school for academic and behavior reasons, and her new magnet school is much better. Even she says she is concerned for her old classmates still enrolled at her old school!

To all the other still waiting on those elusive emails. I got an email saying that the BOE system was experiencing "technical difficulties", and to wait for my email. Other people I know did not receive this email. This does little to bolster my confidence in the NH BOE!

I am sorry that I am feel compelled to withdraw both my children from our neighborhood school. The school that is 1,500 feet from my house; the school that was the reason I bought this particular house in the first place! But in a school without uniforms, without consistent discipline, without higher academic expectations, I must.

I have been ostracized by people for doing this and speaking about this, and probably always will be. But it is my duty to research, find, and demand a good education for my children. Not a good-enough one. I've spoken to many neighbors about our neighborhood school, and I've found that the consensus seems to be this: our neighborhood is great and safe (mostly white and Italian), therefore the school must be, too. Since I don't agree, I look to another school, in this case a magnet school.

I feel lucky to have had the time to tour 9 magnet schools to investigate and decide which would be the best place to send my younger daughter. I am grateful to the New Haven Public Schools for having these days set up every year. I am now just waiting for word to see if she got into any of the three schools I listed. And then I must start the insanity again, when I go to the BOE to register her for Kindergarten. Because even though she has been in the school system for two years, it doesn't seem to matter; I still have to start from square one and register her yet again.

My biggest issue with all of this is that it has been too hard to even find out what to do, where to be, and how to do it. The NH BOE is not forthcoming, well-organized, or consistent. Why not?

It should perhaps be noted that while charter and magnet schools have some similarities, like school choice, they are not the same thing.