All parents want to give their children the best education they possibly can, however they might define that educational experience. No wonder then that each fall parents of kids of all ages anxiously look for those institutions they feel will best meet the needs of their children, from kindergarten to college. In the trite but true category belongs the idea that a solid education is one of the best gifts that adults can give to children, something that can open possibilities for a given individual and can only strengthen the rest of society as well.
In San Francisco, we are exceptionally fortunate in that there are a tremendous number of quality public schools at all educational levels throughout the City. Not only are there many great schools to choose from, but those schools all have differences that make it more likely that the particular needs and interests of a given child can be met. From Spanish and Mandarin language immersion, to project based learning, from small schools to large schools, families have options.

In the not so recent past, only a handful of schools received much positive attention, either on the playground or in the media. Over the last few years this has changed quite dramatically as school communities have learned how to better publicize their offerings and correct the misinformation spread about their programs.
We are now proudly describing caring environments, solid academic programs, enrichment activities, and expanded curricula centered around art, science or language. At this point, many schools once considered “Hidden Gems” are not so hidden any more, finding themselves with an increasing number of applicants, full tours and higher and higher spots on the application form.

The best way to find out about the schools and the unique opportunities each provides is to go visit them. Most schools have regular tours that you can call ahead and sign up for. In addition, Parents for Public Schools (PPS) has Parent Ambassadors at almost all of the schools in the City. Parents can call PPS at 468-7077 to be connected with contacts at a particular school, at schools in certain areas or schools with certain types of programs. The PPS website also has a special “enrollment” page with tips and resources (http://www.ppssf.org/html/enrollment.html).

For everyone, and especially those who aren't yet sure which schools to actually look at, a good way to jump in is by attending the annual Public School Fair, held this year on November 18th at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium from 9am to 3pm. All public and charter schools will have booths staffed by principals and some teachers. This is an excellent way to get a quick sense of a school. Even such brief encounters with principals and staff can give parents an indication of the leadership style and the degree to which parents are welcomed and involved and their concerns taken seriously.

Once families have decided which schools they most like, they can fill out an application listing up to seven schools in order of preference. After the deadline for turning in applications has passed, a computer program brings together all of the forms and makes assignments, attempting to give each student a place in the school that is highest on his or her ranking.

This is the first assignment iteration, known as Round 1, which is followed by a second round in which families may submit an amended application form, listing a different set of schools among those still with openings, and may also choose to be on the waiting list for a school that has filled up.

This assignment method is the structure that supports “school choice,” a means by which the preferences of parents are a major determining factor in assignment. The price of having choices is a lack of absolute certainty. In San Francisco, we can tour multiple schools and decide on which subset best fit our child's unique abilities and challenges, but we can't just walk down to the school down the block and register our children for school that coming year.

However, while there is uncertainty, it is not as great as most people feel or fear, and the data bear this out. Just looking at the numbers from the very first pass at assignment from last year (that is, Round 1), 84% of K-12 applicants received one of the choices on their list and 62% got their first choice. And of course, for those families who consciously who avoid the very high profile schools with the greatest numbers of requests, the chances of being assigned to a school on your list are even greater.

Even with these optimist figures, many people still find the whole process unsettling and want a better understanding of the mechanics. The procedure is detailed in the enrollment handbook produced by the SFUSD, but the overall picture is not really that complicated. Basically, the likelihood of being assigned to any particular school is determined by how many available openings there are at the school, how many other applicants there are for those spots, and then finally, if there is more demand than there are openings, how much socio-economic diversity a given student would add to the school. For most schools, students who live in the “attendance area” of a school (a geographic area associated with a particular school), are considered first in the assignment process until they no longer add diversity, then students from outside the area are added in. In this manner, there is still some neighborhood weighting even though there are not neighborhood school assignment.

This latter piece of the assignment puzzle, again brought into play only when there are more requests than available spots, is known as the Diversity Index and is calculated by the computer program. The Diversity Index is part of an effort to meet a court-mandate (which recently expired) to achieve diversity within schools and programs without using race or ethnicity as a factor.

While that legal imperative is gone for the moment, socio-economic diversity is a goal shared by the Board of Education, district administrators, staff and many community members throughout the City. It is fair to say that these same decision makers are cognizant of other contending factors, such as the desire to limit travel time of kids and families and equitable access to specialized programs that are not evenly spread throughout the City.

However, since San Francisco, like so much of the United States, is still quite segregated into neighborhoods strongly defined by socio-economic factors of race, ethnicity and income, simple mappings between children and neighborhood schools will achieve neither the goals of diversity, educational equity, nor any broader understanding of parental choice. Further, since the geographic relationship between schools and families has changed over time, the whole concept of simply assigning students to a local school begins to break down quite quickly, as some neighborhoods will not have enough spots (in general or of the right kind) for neighborhood kids and some will have too many.

A new assignment policy will be developed in the near future, and is partially on hold while we all await a Supreme Court decision regarding whether or not the Seattle school district may use race as one factor in assigning students to high schools. Whatever the outcome of that decision, the assignment policy will have to support the ultimate goal of giving the greatest educational opportunities to the most children and will thus have to take into account where students live, some direct or indirect measure of socio-economic factors and program preferences.

Until that new policy is designed and implemented, families will be working under the present system. Luckily, there are many good choices of schools. Parents need only look a little bit past the more commonly discussed names to find a whole host of possibilities awaiting their children.

Lisa Schiff is the parent of two children who attend McKinley Elementary School in the San Francisco Unified School District and is a member of the board of directors of Parents for Public Schools of San Francisco (http://www.ppssf.org).