Thursday, December 09, 1999
'Super Saturday' likely to stay - for now
BY DANA DiFILIPPO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati Public Schools' “Super Saturday” scramble for magnet-school sign-ups could be around for another year.
Administrators said Wednesdaythat they haven't had enough time to develop a fairer lottery process or solicit community input into how that process should work.
They expect to vote Monday on postponing a lottery until 2001.
Under the first-come, first-served process, administrators announce magnet enrollment locations — usually before dawn on the last Saturday in January — and parents race to register their children.
Administrators decided last sum mer to scrap the decade-old process, saying it's unfair to low-income parents who might not have access to a car, telephone or other things to assist their scramble. Two-thirds of district students are low income.
Most districts use lotteries to register students in magnet programs. Shifting to a lottery would save about $30,000, district Treasurer Richard Gardner said.
Super Saturday supporters complain that a lottery usurps control from parents who are willing to work hard to get their kids in magnet schools.
The school board remains divided, but most members agree that Super Saturday isn't fair.
“Super Saturday is Secret Saturday,” said Florence Newell, an in coming board member. “I can't support us having it another year.”
But board member Harriet Russell responded, “I am philosophically opposed to a child's education being determined by luck of the draw.”
Some said the problem highlights the district's failure to meet parents' demands for Montessori schools and other popular programs.
“Shame on us for offering so few choices that students get rejected from the school they want,” board member Catherine Ingram said.
Cincinnati Federation of Teachers President Tom Mooney agreed: “If Kroger and Safeway called Procter & Gamble saying they ran out of Head & Shoulders, I bet they'd make more Head & Shoulders.”
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