The deciding factor is due to arrive soon in the mail, a letter from the Boston School Department letting them know whether their nearly 5-year-old daughter, Ayla, is slated for a seat in the nearby school their hearts are set on, or in one of two backup choices. If not, they will have to seek openings at other city schools that other families have already picked over, consider tuition payments to private schools, or leave the city.
“It’s like putting your life on hold until we get a form letter in the mail,” Glyn Polson said. “Given the randomness of the school assignment system, it has the unintended effect of driving families out of the city. No one really wants to leave the education of their kids to chance.”
It is a story that will repeat itself all over Boston in the days ahead, as thousands of parents wait with hope and dread for similar letters after spending six anxiety-filled months navigating the city’s school lottery system. It is a grueling annual rite that asks parents to list the schools they want for their children, schools that excel in science or the arts or that are generally strong, or schools in safe neighborhoods or near home. Then assignments are doled out based on a host of variables, including the most fickle: Luck.
The system is meant to give everyone a fair shot at a good public education. But in a city where too many lower-tiered schools are mixed in with the good ones, competition for the best is fierce. Last year, more than 600 of the 5,500 families trying to win slots did not get one of the schools they wanted most — and there is no reason to think it won’t work out that way this year, too. For some families, that will mean a choice between sticking it out in a city with wildly inconsistent schools or opting for a suburb where finding a good school seems less of a gamble.
