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admissions letter

November 17, 2011

Stringer to Walcott: We can fix “fictional” kindergarten wait lists

by Philissa Cramer, at 9:10 am

The start of the city’s eight-month kindergarten admissions season isn’t until January, but Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer already has kindergarten on his mind.

Today, Stringer is sending a letter to Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott with suggestions for making the anxiety-producing admissions process easier on families and schools.

The current kindergarten admissions process has families registering for their local schools starting in January. By March, many schools are already maintaining wait lists. Between then and the first day of school, the lists thin out as families move, choose private school, or win admission to charter schools or specialized programs at other schools, which have different application deadlines. Most of the time, families that stay on the wait lists end up being able to attend their zoned schools — but only after months of worry and searching for back-up options.

“This is particularly problematic in school zones that are historically overcrowded because parents can experience months of unnecessary anxiety as their children sit on waitlists that often turn out to be, for lack of a better term, ‘fictional,’ Stringer writes in the letter.

The letter outlines steps the city could take to streamline the admissions process, for many families a first contact with the DOE’s bureaucracy. They include adjusting admissions timelines, automating admissions so students who are admitted to other DOE programs are taken off their zoned school’s register, standardizing applications, and offering school directories tailored to each district.

“The Kindergarten admissions process can feel overwhelming to parents, particularly those brand new to the system,” Stringer writes. “I believe these recommendations will help make the current process more efficient and easier for parents to navigate.”

An early official entrant into the city’s 2013 mayoral race, Stringer has asked Walcott for a meeting to discuss kindergarten admissions.

Stringer’s complete letter to Walcott is below:

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  • Elizabeth Kellner

    Any day now Mr. Stringer and his wife are expecting their first child, and as many parents know, sadly it’s never too early to start worrying about where your child will go to school.  Let’s hope Baby Stringer will be a public school kid — too many of our elected officials and senior city officials send their children to private school.  We need to grow parental support and involvement in public schools at every level of economic and political power in all neighborhoods of the city.  Only then will we have a responsive DOE.

  • ggw

    Seems like a practical idea.

    I respectfully disagree with Ms. Kellner’s comment.  Sounds good in theory, for sure.  I’m totally on board with the vision.  

    But the reality is that many of the officials who choose the public schools do it with the MASSIVE caveat of carefully choosing from the small array of high-performing public schools.  

    Here in Boston they pick one of five “good” elementary schools (out of 80), then on to the exam school which only accepts the city’s top 3%.  Thereby always bypassing the more violent, scary schools.  

    Why is an official who chooses that faux “public school” experience more likely to make better decisions than someone who openly sends their kid to private schools?  Let’s not make the kids a proxy.  

  • il flerpolo

    well said. 

  • Michael M. (parent still)

    As you may or may not be aware, most elementary schools in NYC are “zoned.”

    Regardless, your closing paragraph relies on a “straw man” argument.  Would you make the same if the official’s kids were in their default elementary school?

  • Michael M. (parent still)

    Gee, I wonder what the average class size, let alone the average home income is, in private vs. public school families.

    ** crickets **

  • il flerpolo

    average cost-per-school employee would also be interesting.  

  • Michael M. (parent still)

    …but is that the basis on which parents make the placement choice?

    Do private school parents shop for low-paid teachers?  Sheesh.

  • il flerpolo

    Sorry, I’m not sure what we’re arguing about.  (I wasn’t sure how your initial reply related to my post, either.)  But I can take all questions as they come, and I can add a couple others if my post on the cost of teachers was too opaque.

    1.  Do expensive private schools have lower class sizes than public schools?  Yes.  

    2.  Are parents of children who attend expensive private schools generally wealthier than parents of children who attend public schools?  Yes.  

    3.  Are private school teachers generally less expensive than public school teachers?  Yes.  

    4.  ”Do private school parents shop for low-paid teachers?”  No.  

    5.  Do private school parents want to pay higher tuition?  No.

    6.  Is it easier to maintain lower class sizes when teachers are less expensive?  Yes.  

    Etc. 

  • emCasale

    You raise a great point. I doubt that Mr. Stringer’s child would even fall into the wait list group were they to register to attend public school. 

  • emCasale

    Such a broken system that results in students being wait listed for kindergarten within their zone. 

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