Why are there so many suburban students at DISD magnet schools? (Dallas: transfer, universities)

[Walter Benjamin]

Why do so many suburban students attend Dallas ISD's top magnet schools?

I had no idea this was the situation... Personally, I feel like this is a big scandal.

[4Movingeast]

That article has been making the rounds on FB for about a week now. Seems like steps should be taken to close the loophole that opens the door to suburban students rather than filling the majority with DISD students leaving only a few spots for the occasional out of district transfer. But- this is DISD we are talking about!

[UnfairPark]

Kids who would hardly make it to top 15% in their own competitive suburban schools, can easily make top 10% in Dallas schools and get into state universities through automated admission. Ones who want to go to Ivy or other elite schools, look good doing so well in such poor, diverse community and get an edge, compared to applying from their affluent, competitive, white school.

If DISD doesn't want them then they can do better screening and prosecute a few parents. You know cheaters are always going to try to game the system, I just heard of some who fake learning disabilities or concussions to get easier testing and longer time. From what I've heard Dallas schools actually want suburban students to make their results look better so they don't investigate their addresses.

[tcualum]

There are some suburban students within DISD limits. That being said, I wouldn't blame the school district if they kept out those who aren't within it's limits.

[WorldKlas]

Its incredibly distressing but not unique to DISD. It happens in many cities throughout the USA. I believe that students residing within a district should be those who attend. There are some that resent that there are students who are undocumented immigrants and they also are granted admission to competitive top tier schools based on their achievement. Not me -- but just noting how contraversial these issues are.

[UnfairPark]

Plano ISD complaints about people who reside in Dallas ISD and other neighboring districts but enroll their kids in PISD for better academics and challenging peers from educated families. Plano is almost always checking addresses but there is no perfect way to handle this issue. I guess every district has to deal with these issues, some less and some more. If you add Robinhood money and voucher system then it's very unfair to parents, students and public schools who try to do it right.

[cordata]

I read the article and I thought I knew a lot abut DISD... but I still don't understand how this happens. I thought that the policy was that all in-district qualified students must be served before offering a place to out of district students.

So if there is some scoring rubric, say 0-100 points, they set a "qualified" level of 80 points. Therefore any kid in district with at least 80 is ahead of an out of district kid with 100 points.

Am I wrong ? How does this happen even if the out of district kids are superstars?

[NP78]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

Kids who would hardly make it to top 15% in their own competitive suburban schools, can easily make top 10% in Dallas schools and get into state universities through automated admission. Ones who want to go to Ivy or other elite schools, look good doing so well in such poor, diverse community and get an edge, compared to applying from their affluent, competitive, white school.

If DISD doesn't want them then they can do better screening and prosecute a few parents. You know cheaters are always going to try to game the system, I just heard of some who fake learning disabilities or concussions to get easier testing and longer time. From what I've heard Dallas schools actually want suburban students to make their results look better so they don't investigate their addresses.

SAT scores do not really support that assertion. Remember we are talking about the Magnet schools here. I don't really see any evidence that it is easier to reach top 10% at TAG or SEM than at Plano schools. The opposite actually. Did you even read the article?

[NP78]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

Plano ISD complaints about people who reside in Dallas ISD and other neighboring districts but enroll their kids in PISD for better academics and challenging peers from educated families. Plano is almost always checking addresses but there is no perfect way to handle this issue. I guess every district has to deal with these issues, some less and some more. If you add Robinhood money and voucher system then it's very unfair to parents, students and public schools who try to do it right.

Remember that Dallas ISD and most other districts surrounding Plano are all classified as property-rich and have to pay in to the system just like Plano. The article in question clearly highlights students from suburban districts like Plano engaging in deceit and/or receiving benefits from a district they did not support with their property tax dollars.

[octo]

Originally Posted by UnfairPark

applying from their affluent, competitive, white school.

Feeding the troll, I know, but you overestimate the arian genetic stock in the northern suburbs.