Too much power to principals for student selection?

For those of you who are in the process of determining where your children should attend high school in Chicago.

Sun-Times:

The debut of a policy that gave all eight of Chicago's college prep principals the power to hand-pick 5 percent of their freshmen -- without following a strict formula based on admission tests, grades and attendance -- weathered a somewhat rocky start last year.

As thousands of eighth-graders learn this week if they have won slots at Chicago's eight selective-enrollment college prep high schools, Chicago Public School officials are tweaking the "principal's pick" process, which gives a sliver of kids another way into the prized schools.

"We have to be transparent and fair,'' said Monique Bond, spokeswoman for new Schools CEO Ron Huberman. "That's the goal."

Parents say a major improvement would be better publicity about a process that lets kids with outstanding extracurricular strengths, extenuating circumstances, an ability to overcome hardship or with a sibling already in a college prep win admission to the city's top public high schools.

Did they have this when I went to high school? If they did, I could communicate that I belonged at their school. Besides even when I was in 8th I had some effective writing schools, so they said.

Here's more:

Last year seven college prep principals handpicked a total of 129 students, data obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times showed. Of those selections, 21 -- or 16 percent -- violated guidelines or did not pass initial law department scrutiny. Those picks occurred at King, Young, Lindblom, and Northside.

CPS officials say some principals had good reasons for straying from the rules. CPS ultimately allowed principals to accept all their picks because by the time the review was finished in August, it was too late to say no to the kids. By then, principals had already notified some questionable picks that they were in, said CPS legal counsel Patrick Rocks.

Some principals picked kids who didn't have enough supporting documentation, or arrived in Chicago after admission tests were over, CPS officials said. One principal used his picks to select learning disabled.

If you really want something, here are ways you can get it. Hopefully these students have a great ability to be persuasive. To be honest it almost seems like overkill. Of course creativity could pay off:

A talented pianist walked into one college prep and gave a formal piano recital.

At Payton College Prep, one applicant submitted a packet of information with a cover sheet that showed a photo of herself superimposed into a shot of the Payton campus, said principal Ellen Estrada. It was captioned, "Mrs. Estrada, I can visualize myself at Walter Payton. Turn the page."

Others sent in DVDs of their work, or their best English essay.

Kids these days! Then again we should smile at their drive to get into better schools. If they want it they can earn it. Hopefully they do well by it!

Here's the principal pick policy for the city schools.

Via CapFax morning shorts.