Education Dept. allows public charter schools to hold weighted lottery
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The Education Department on Wednesday reversed a long-standing policy and will now allow public charter schools that receive federal grants to give admissions preference to low-income children, minorities and other disadvantaged students.
The move is designed to try to preserve racial diversity in schools that are attractive to wealthier families. Schools will be able to conduct a “weighted lottery” that gives preference to certain groups.
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“We’ve heard from states, school operators and other stakeholders across the country that weighted lotteries can be an effective tool that can complement public charter schools’ efforts to serve more educationally disadvantaged students,” said Dorie Holt, a department spokeswoman.
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools had been asking for the change for nearly three years, said Nina Rees, the group’s president.
“At the core, this brings the federal statute in line with what a lot of states have put into place to help attract more English-language learners, special education students and low-income students to charter schools,” Rees said.
In cities such as Denver, New York and the District of Columbia, a handful of well-regarded charter schools have been attracting wealthier families, making it difficult to maintain a balance between rich and poor, white and minority, said Michael Petrilli, executive vice president of the right-leaning Fordham Institute and author of “The Diverse Schools Dilemma.”
“Once the word gets out, many middle-class parents who want diverse schools end up flooding the lotteries, and then it’s not so diverse anymore,” Petrilli said. “If you can’t weight