Mothers call on Redwood City Board of Education to make fairer proposals
Opinion: Concerned parents in Redwood City.
The Redwood City Board of Trustees' recently proposed policy preventing students in specialized School of Choice (SOC) programs from transferring to other choice programs is another blow to educational equity in Redwood City.
At the heart of the outlined policy here, is attempting to address declining enrollment in the choice program due to third-grade transfers to North Star Academy, the top-rated public school in California, which begins in the third grade.
In fact, Redwood City’s other programs of choice (SOC) have been decimated by the third-grade mark due to transfers to North Star, and both programs and students have suffered the consequences—especially dire for Redwood City’s award-winning immersion programs—Spanish immersion at Adelante Selby and Mandarin immersion at Orion—because upper-grade students cannot fill the empty spots if they are not fluent in the language.
If the new policy is approved, North Star Academy attendance priority would be given to students from neighborhood schools, followed by students enrolled in private schools. Students from other Redwood City public schools of choice (SOC) would not be able to transfer to North Star.
While this policy would serve to reduce the choice program's cut in third-grade classes, the policy as currently stated would reward parents with enough resources to send their children to private schools over parents who cannot afford the Bay Area's expensive tuition, since those children would be given seats at North Star while public choice students would not.
The policy could inadvertently lead to lower enrollment in Redwood City public schools, as wealthy parents who would choose programs of choice would decide to send their children to private schools to keep the door open for potential seats at North Star Academy.
Parents interested in language immersion who cannot afford private schools may be penalized if their students do not thrive in language immersion, as they would not be able to transfer to North Star with their peers from the neighborhood school and the private school.
This is especially concerning given that the demographics of Spanish and Mandarin immersion schools have a higher percentage of Latino and Asian students. While California Education Code Section 35351 prohibits the assignment of students to a particular school (or the exclusion of students from a particular school) based on actual or perceived race or ethnicity, this new policy crosses the line by barring students from majority Latino and Asian campuses from attending North Star Academy.
While we commend the School Board for realizing the burden that transfers to North Star Academy place on Redwood City’s SOC programs, this solution moves the needle even further away from equity. There are several other options that could address declining third-grade choice program enrollment while also supporting educational equity.
For example:
North Star Academy could begin in 6th grade, rather than 3rd, and resources currently supporting those lower three grades could be reallocated to neighborhood schools to improve their chances of passing North Star tests in middle school.
Another option is for North Star Academy to start in kindergarten, with universal screening for all Redwood City students.
Choice programs (SOC) could prioritize weighted enrollment, starting with students in neighborhood schools, followed by students enrolled in other choice programs, and finally students attending private schools.
The Redwood City School Board says this new policy is an attempt to “formalize what has always been an unwritten rule in RCSD: families who choose a specialized School of Choice (SOC) program are agreeing to commit to the remainder of the program.” However, Redwood City parents disagree that they should prioritize loyalty to their school program over doing what is right for their son or daughter. This policy would have dire consequences for equity in the Redwood City School District, which already struggles with bimodal test scores and unequal distribution of resources across schools.
Bring this back to the table, RCSD Board, and reimagine a solution to this problem that does not sacrifice equity.
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