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What's the point of suburbanite parents cheating to get their children into Booker T Washington? Isn't the whole point of living in the suburbs to have a good public school district zoned to your home? Countless threads on this board are dedicated to parents getting their children into some great feeder pattern in Plano or Frisco ISD.
What's the point of suburbanite parents cheating to get their children into Booker T Washington? Isn't the whole point of living in the suburbs to have a good public school district zoned to your home? Countless threads on this board are dedicated to parents getting their children into some great feeder pattern in Plano or Frisco ISD.
The suburban way of life is to disavow our problems (which no reasonable person denies we have) while claiming our amenities for their own. The difference is that I don’t care when someone in Prosper pretends to have easy access to the downtown Arts district, while I do absolutely care if they take a spot at our magnet schools.
They try to take the spots because while a few suburbs have attempted to create arts magnets to catch Dallas overflow (Grand Prairie comes to mind), the reality is that Booker T is the best in the region and maybe the state in many programs. And unlike the physical buildings in the suburbs, that school history can’t be manufactured quickly or easily.
What's the point of suburbanite parents cheating to get their children into Booker T Washington? Isn't the whole point of living in the suburbs to have a good public school district zoned to your home? Countless threads on this board are dedicated to parents getting their children into some great feeder pattern in Plano or Frisco ISD.
It’s one of the top 5 public high schools in the country and can be a “golden ticket” to Juilliard, Berkelee School of Music and other top arts colleges and programs. For a kid who is especially gifted in dance, music, theatre, etc - they have a better shot of getting on these elite colleges’ radars through the Booker T system than through the Frisco HS theatre department or JJ Pearce drill team.
I truly don’t think application forgery is rampant at other top magnets like Dealey Montessori but I can absolutely tell you it is rampant at Booker T. In my 14 years of working in Plano, I have run across probably upwards of “dozens” of coworkers and their friends who brazenly admit to the various ways they falsify their address to give little Emma the shot at Broadway she “deserves”.
It’s one of the top 5 public high schools in the country and can be a “golden ticket” to Juilliard, Berkelee School of Music and other top arts colleges and programs. For a kid who is especially gifted in dance, music, theatre, etc - they have a better shot of getting on these elite colleges’ radars through the Booker T system than through the Frisco HS theatre department or JJ Pearce drill team.
I truly don’t think application forgery is rampant at other top magnets like Dealey Montessori but I can absolutely tell you it is rampant at Booker T. In my 14 years of working in Plano, I have run across probably upwards of “dozens” of coworkers and their friends who brazenly admit to the various ways they falsify their address to give little Emma the shot at Broadway she “deserves”.
I'm childless but I am a resident of Dallas. I am a Dallas taxpayer. I am offended by my tax dollars going to suburbanites cheating a resource meant for underprivileged Dallas residents so that little Emma in Plano/Frisco can get a shot at Broadway. There needs to be a crack down on this.
Drill team girls are usually at the top of the social food chain at high schools, or at least they were in my high school experience, which is becoming less relevant as I age. There are usually pretty good looking. I don't know how many more advantages that they need. Drill team girls can write their own ticket in life.
What's the point of suburbanite parents cheating to get their children into Booker T Washington? Isn't the whole point of living in the suburbs to have a good public school district zoned to your home? Countless threads on this board are dedicated to parents getting their children into some great feeder pattern in Plano or Frisco ISD.
These parents are afraid their snowflakes won’t catch attention of Top 20 schools in backdrop of large number of high performing students in affluent suburban schools. They see lots of kids from these magnet schools getting into Top 20 schools so assume it’s because of the school, in reality it’s because of putting top urban underprivileged minority students in one group. T 20 schools desperately need that demographics to add diversity but sometimes good suburban students also get advantage of being there, they benefit from opportunities and programs only reserved for poor minority kids and look good enough to get picked by college too.
High school ranking list give these schools high rank because of district demographics even though they don’t represent overall district, just a small handpicked group of smart students so rankings are skewed but parents and colleges assume it a success.
These are sad suburban parent running away from competition and trying to manipulate perceived underprivileged which reflects by attending schools in struggling districts. Dallas ISD needed suburban kids to make these school look better than they are but kudos to urban parents to push them to take a step to stop this.
We must give Dallas ISD a hand for giving these schools bigger budgets and more resources than regular schools. It’s unfortunate majority of their schools and students suffer as they don’t get any of these opportunities. These only benefit a small number of students but it does make district look good.
These parents are afraid their snowflakes won’t catch attention of Top 20 schools in backdrop of large number of high performing students in affluent suburban schools. They see lots of kids from these magnet schools getting into Top 20 schools so assume it’s because of the school, in reality it’s because of putting top urban underprivileged minority students in one group. T 20 schools desperately need that demographics to add diversity but sometimes good suburban students also get advantage of being there, they benefit from opportunities and programs only reserved for poor minority kids and look good enough to get picked by college too.
High school ranking list give these schools high rank because of district demographics even though they don’t represent overall district, just a small handpicked group of smart students so rankings are skewed but parents and colleges assume it a success.
These are sad suburban parent running away from competition and trying to manipulate perceived underprivileged which reflects by attending schools in struggling districts. Dallas ISD needed suburban kids to make these school look better than they are but kudos to urban parents to push them to take a step to stop this.
We must give Dallas ISD a hand for giving these schools bigger budgets and more resources than regular schools. It’s unfortunate majority of their schools and students suffer as they don’t get any of these opportunities. These only benefit a small number of students but it does make district look good.
This post is simultaneously ignorant of the demographics at Booker T, the way college admissions/recruitment work, the quality of non-suburban students at Booker T, as well as the unique wrinkles that come with being at an arts magnet and looking for admissions to college programs with artistic focus. The district does spend more money at magnet schools (directionally though not without exception) but mostly not for the reasons you mention. They spend more because teachers there tend to be the best compensated in the district under its pay regime, and teacher comp is the district’s largest cost by a mile. It’s not because they are spending a bunch of money on art supplies. The amount spent on specialty equipment for the arts is just a fraction of what is spent on sports at the comprehensive neighborhood schools.
More fodder for those of you who are angry about this. It's not only a problem with "cheating suburbanite parents"...the school itself has actively engaged in this cheating
We usually live outside DISD but are temporarily (one year) living in district due to construction. We considered applying to BTW because I have a child who was interested in attending. I was pretty sure the school would say "no" but I couldn't find specific information on their website about our scenario, so I called and asked. I was told directly that we could apply as in district residents if we currently live in district (as expected). I asked directly, "What if we move back out of district once enrolled". The person we asked said they would have someone call me back to answer the question because they were not sure. When they called back, I was told directly by the school that they generally don't check after you enroll and that we should be fine. That sounded fishy so I asked directly whether we are supposed to leave the school if we leave the district, but never got a direct answer over the phone. I assume families are supposed to leave if they move out of district, but honestly why wouldn't they just tell us? We were NOT trying to cheat our way in, just find out what the policy is. We do know plenty of of kids in DISD magnets who have lived out of district, so were not completely sure what is allowed.
We ended up reaching out to a BTW Board member through a mutual friend, and asked that person directly. We were told that there is/was a divide among Board members about whether or not it was acceptable for highly qualified/talented students who move out of district (or those who rent/buy a second residence to meet residency requirements) to enroll or stay enrolled. I realize not all parents are as conscientious about this as we are, but the school absolutely needs to be more clear about their policies. It sounds like they are moving in that direction, so that's a positive.
This post is simultaneously ignorant of the demographics at Booker T, the way college admissions/recruitment work, the quality of non-suburban students at Booker T, as well as the unique wrinkles that come with being at an arts magnet and looking for admissions to college programs with artistic focus. The district does spend more money at magnet schools (directionally though not without exception) but mostly not for the reasons you mention. They spend more because teachers there tend to be the best compensated in the district under its pay regime, and teacher comp is the district’s largest cost by a mile. It’s not because they are spending a bunch of money on art supplies. The amount spent on specialty equipment for the arts is just a fraction of what is spent on sports at the comprehensive neighborhood schools.
This post is about all Dallas magnets not just BT. As far as a small number of students using big chunk of funds is depriving other students, no matter it’s for music masters or football kickers. Every family pays equal tax so resources can be pooled for all, not to send quarter away through robin hood and quarter on a small number of special group and leaving little to serve an average student. Why should they suffer to support chosen ones?
These parents are afraid their snowflakes won’t catch attention of Top 20 schools in backdrop of large number of high performing students in affluent suburban schools. They see lots of kids from these magnet schools getting into Top 20 schools so assume it’s because of the school, in reality it’s because of putting top urban underprivileged minority students in one group. T 20 schools desperately need that demographics to add diversity but sometimes good suburban students also get advantage of being there, they benefit from opportunities and programs only reserved for poor minority kids and look good enough to get picked by college too.
High school ranking list give these schools high rank because of district demographics even though they don’t represent overall district, just a small handpicked group of smart students so rankings are skewed but parents and colleges assume it a success.
These are sad suburban parent running away from competition and trying to manipulate perceived underprivileged which reflects by attending schools in struggling districts. Dallas ISD needed suburban kids to make these school look better than they are but kudos to urban parents to push them to take a step to stop this.
We must give Dallas ISD a hand for giving these schools bigger budgets and more resources than regular schools. It’s unfortunate majority of their schools and students suffer as they don’t get any of these opportunities. These only benefit a small number of students but it does make district look good.
Your post smacks of ignorance, especially with respect to Booker T. How many kids from Plano ISD get into Juilliard every year? Two years ago, 5 of the freshmen boys dance majors at Juilliard (out of 12 total) hailed from Booker T. 5 of 12 spots from the entire US all came from one high school. 3 of them were white boys who trained at Plano dance studios.
Their parents weren’t running away from competition at Plano ISD nor were they wealthy suburban minorities riding the magic dreamboat reserved for poor urban minorities. They were gaming their way into a program where kids get auditions and administrators have connections. No different than a Plano family choosing St Marks or Hockaday for more opportunities, except for the address forgery on applications.
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