PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A parents group says the school district’s new admissions lottery for magnet schools is diluting academic performance at Masterman, perennially one of the top schools in the state.
The Masterman Home and School Association, in a new report, said since the admissions lottery went into effect, Masterman’s “long history of rigor and enriched curriculum is fading.”
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The lottery, introduced last year, gave preference to historically underrepresented ZIP codes to make the district’s special-admissions schools more diverse and inclusive. Before the change, principals had input into which students were admitted to their schools.
The Philadelphia Board of Education on Thursday heard testimony from a student who says that, because admissions aren’t solely based on performance, students have stopped trying.
“This is just what happened when the lottery was announced. Once it stopped being important to do well, a lot of them stopped trying to do well. And then they didn’t do well. “This is a big deal,” said Thomas Dorn, a fourth grader at the K-8 Penn Alexander school.
“You don’t have to take my word for it. If you look at Masterman’s PSSA scores from last year, you can see the evidence that kids aren’t excited to do well in school anymore,” Thomas said.
He said that students who want a coveted seat in Masterman’s high school have learned that they won’t necessarily be rewarded if they work for good grades.
“My big sister Cecelia was in eighth grade at Masterman last year when the lottery was announced. She was crushed,” Thomas said.
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The parents recommend ending the lottery and designating an admissions officer or committee who can use human judgment to improve diversity. The group also suggests restoring priority for Masterman middle school students in Masterman High School.
Superintendent Tony Watlington said a review of the lottery is planned.
“We put out a request for an external audit — an external auditor to audit our process this year — because we want an unqualified opinion, just like you do a financial audit to get feedback,” Watlington told the school board.