Sunday, June 24, 2007

Rich people win again

Los Altos School District has succeeded in its effort to redraw its boundaries in a way that least burdens "core" families and keep Bullis white.

Amusingly, the professional journalists at the local papers continually lag behind Amanda Aaronson, who normally dedicates her blog to bragging about her kids (use of graphics, posting source material), the rea.

I don't envy the school board's position, first having to deal with outraged secessionists from the Hills and now needing to reshuffle the neighborhoods that go to each school. They are really part of the same problem. Covington was originally renovated because of similar demographic projections, which turned out to be wrong, leading to the closure of my alma mater.

It's hard to see an easy solution, but catering to "core communities," as Bill Cooper reportedly suggested, is tragicomically misguided. Families who can afford to volunteer more already have plenty of advantages, including their ability to get involved in school board elections. Margot Harrigan was apparently the only board member to point this out.

I sense a "Draft Bruce" campaign in the offing.

2 comments:

BigDra said...

You forget that Los Altos Hills has lots of Asian families, too. So Bullis isn't entirely white. But what do you suggest? Busing in kids from Mountain View? Its not like student bodies at the other Los Altos schools are that diverse...

Amanda said...

Eh, actually my blog is usually repository for much of the medical research I do... or behavioural research... with the occasional brag tossed in.

That reminds me, I need to stick that amblyopia/LD research in there.