Conversations like the ficticious, but not-far-fetched one below are happening all over High Point (N&R) this week between parents and students... Here's the set up: 

Jesse is 11, a rising 6th grader in Guilford County Schools.  Aycock Middle School is one block from our house.  Aycock has 75% minority based student population and is one of the three attendance zone schools he might attend, the other two schools are in predominantly white neighborhoods with correspondingly low student diversity.  All three schools have different "themes". 

Although he can write down his preference for which school he wants to attend, the final choice is made by a computer and, for all intents and purposes, is a lottery. The lottery does not take into account that Jesse lives across the street from Aycock but makes its calculations and will assign him to a school based on his "free/reduced lunch" status in an effort to "balance" the three schools along socio-economic lines.  He wrote down Aycock as his first choice, not because of its Science/Math theme, but because he - like his brother and sister before him - is emotionally attached to Aycock and wants to finally walk to school like they did.

Yesterday, Jesse got a letter from GCS telling him that he will not be attending Aycock next year.  Here is my imagined conversation with him after he bounded off the bus from elementary school ....

"Jesse, we received your Middle School assignment today, come here and sit down."  "What does it say, Dad?  Did I get into Aycock?", he asked.  "No, son... the computer says you'll be going to the Performing Arts school,  you know that cool new school over in Sunset Hills where they built the new performing stage and where the teachers sing all the time.", I was trying to soften the blow.  Instantly deflated, Jesse said "That's bogus, Dad.  I want to go to Aycock... I've been playing baseball and catching fireflies over there since, since... forever.  Call some of your school board friends and fix this, Dad.  I don't want to go to that other school.  There are too many rich white people over there." He was inconsolable.

I tried to reason with him, "But Jesse, this is for the greater good... a lot of those better-off white kids will probably be coming over here to Aycock unless they choose to go to private school next year.  Aycock needs them over here because too many of your neighborhood friends are poor and minorities.  And they need you over in Sunset Hills because you get your lunch for a reduced rate.  They've got to balance the schools out, you know."  "What do you mean, Dad?", he asked in an all-of-sudden grown-up sounding voice, "I just want to go to the school across the street, I'm tired of riding the bus every day and I don't want to have singing teachers"

My challenge for you: Take it from here... How would you explain this to him in a way so he could comprehend and, hopefully, accept his role in social engineering?

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More on this over at the N&R's Chalkboard blog.

4/7 - This morning's N&R reports on the number of High Point area families who will be having similar conversations.  I am really glad Tim Mann is back up and running.

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I received an interesting email today.

As reported yesterday in the N&R, Eastern Guilford Middle School is considering the adoption of a school uniform (aka S.M.O.D.) policy for next year.  Because of my opposition to the policy at Aycock last year, an Eastern Middle parent sent me the following invitation...

I'll be pleased to attend if our schedules mesh.  Through my observations and numerous conversations with Aycock staff, students, and others at the school, I think the uniform policy at Aycock is a farce.  Not to mention it has proven to be an amazing time sucker for all involved. 

Sure, the kids look pretty, but at what cost in instructional time?  For your consideration: A few weeks ago I was standing in the main hall during "AA (homeroom)" period talking to some friends of mine who are long-time Aycock staff.  A veteran teacher busted out of the classroom, then huffed over to us, all exasperated, "Will you (not me, others in charge) get this girl out of my class?... I'm sick of this crap."  "What's wrong?", asked one of my friends.  "She refuses to take her coat off, I want to just get her written up", the teacher said, and then continued, "She says she is cold (it was real cold outside) and she won't put it in her locker... When she asks me why she has to be cold, all I can tell her is because it is policy that she can't wear her coat.  I'm sick of this... just write her up."

The reason Aycock adopted uniforms over the objections of many parents was to reduce discipline problems and "improve the learning environment" at the school.  Have uniforms accomplished their goals?  I believe the GCS administration needs to find out the answer to this basic question.

If SMOD is found to have clearly made a positive impact in student behavior at Aycock, then every middle school in the county should be requiring uniforms for their students.  Such a systemic policy would avoid the shuffling that the Eastern parent described.  If it is not an effective policy, it should be dropped.

Aycock had a strict dress code before uniforms were "adopted" through a heavy-handed administrative manuever last year.  If, in 2003, the administration had placed half the effort to enforcing the old code as they have keeping kids in Polo shirts and khakis this year, there would have been no reason to even consider such a draconian policy.

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