Zoning, School Choice, and Urban Reform

In a recent New York Times article, No division Required in This School Problem, the problem of urban school zoning is discussed and a solution for Boston is proposed.  The problem is how to send children to good schools, relatively close to where they live, when few such schools exist.  Peng Shi, a 24 year old doctoral student with no ties to education, proposed that schools drop the ideas of zoning altogether and instead give families a list of six schools close to where they live, with the first two being the closest high-qaulity schools, and then the next two closest of at least medium quality. 

This article is pertinent for our class for a couple of extremely relevant reasons.  First, last class session we discussed the performance of urban schools in Baltimore, and examined what information is presented to families through the high school choice fair.  Baltimore has a fairly innovative school choice program, but I personally found the information regarding school performance and amenities remarkably misleading.  Shi’s solution may be a perfect happy-medium for providing student with the opportunity to attend the most convenient school of the highest caliber.  While Baltimore could still have entrance requirements for attending the best schools, students will have a better chance of knowing what they are signing up for prior to attending the school as a Freshman and then transferring.

Second, this idea was proposed by a gentleman with no educational experience or political agenda.  Could the future of urban educational reform come from educational outsiders with finely tuned data and statistical analysis skills?  Is this a good idea, or is education such an emotional and location specific  phenomenon that it is too dangerous to make decisions by turning students into numbers and data points.  What do you think?  Do you have any insight into the future of school choice or the reform of the urban educational system?

-          Josh Peace

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/education/no-division-required-in-this-school-problem.html?ref=education&_r=0