Use Economics, not Race, as School Assignment Tie-Breaker

Nielsen said the problem is the open choice system for Seattle high schools, whereby any student can choose any of the city's 10 high schools. Tie-breakers in case of over-enrollment include a sibling in the same school, racial balance, distance and lottery, in that order. There is no preference for region, so students in neighborhoods close to the school don't get a preference over someone living at the other end of town.

Ballard is especially popular this year because of its spanking new high-tech-oriented building, though in previous years of leaky roofs and peeling paint the school was undersubscribed.

Nielsen said he is proposing amendments to the school assignment procedure that would give more weight to proximity so students would have a greater chance to get into "their" neighborhood high school.

"This is a unique city," Nielsen said. "Many people identify with their high school all their lives."

Nielsen said that the racial balance preference ought to be changed to socio-economic "because it is increasingly difficult to determine which race people belong to."

"Poverty, not race, is the single biggest detriment to academic achievement." Nielsen said. "Integration of society is a real estate question, not something that should be put on the schools."

Nielsen also supports the proposal to create a new small high school in the Queen Anne-Magnolia area.

Nielsen said the Ballard area has a substantial amount of racial diversity and the school would be adequately racially diverse if proximity and economic level tie-breakers were included in the admission procedure.

School Board member Steve Brown told the Seattle Press, "Most of the negative feedback I'm getting is from parents whose kids didn't get into Ballard High."

But Brown said this is a sign of progress. "A few years ago there were only three high schools that had to turn away students," he said. "Now there are five highly desirable high schools and five less popular. We need to bring the less popular five up to the same level as the top five. The biggest task facing the school system is how to deliver high quality education to the whole city."

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