Public Grade School Legacies

Parents Forum
1

<p>Never would have thought this would be allowed:</p>

<p>"Emulating a controversial practice at many colleges, two high-achieving public school districts in California are giving preference to the children of alumni.</p>

<p>The Beverly Hills Unified School District and the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District have adopted legacy admissions policies for children of former students who live outside their enrollment boundaries.</p>

<p>The policies appear to be the first in the nation at public schools, education observers say.</p>

<p>The programs vary slightly, but leaders of both districts say they hope to raise money by forging closer ties with alumni who may be priced out of their hometowns as well as with grandparents who still live there."</p>

<p>[‘Legacy</a>’ admissions OK’d in public grade schools - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/05/23/legacy_admissions_okd_in_public_grade_schools/]'Legacy”>http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/05/23/legacy_admissions_okd_in_public_grade_schools/)</p>

2

<p>If they have the space, why not? I don’t see where they are excluding kids who live in the district, just admitting some who don’t, but have a connection. The Santa Monica district it says have always given permits to children of “district, city, and community college employees, siblings of current students, and others who moved away”, so they are adding children of alumni to the priority list.</p>

3

<p>Are they displacing residents of the area served by these schools, or overcrowding the classrooms? Do they open any of their available space to non-alumni children who live out of the area (particularly those who might be willing to donate money - which seems to be the goal here)? Something about this seems wrong to me, although if they’re doing right by the taxpayers who are supporting the school, and those taxpayers aren’t complaining, I guess it’s not a big problem.</p>