Staff Editorial: No lottery for public school

The plan to carve a traditional catchment area for the new Penn-aided pre-K-8 school bests other alternatives. West Philadelphia residents are divided into two camps on the issue. One group supports a catchment area, by which all students in a designated zone are eligible to attend the pre-K-8 school, and those outside are enrolled elsewhere. Others prefer a lottery system, in which students from a much larger portion of University City are chosen at random to attend the experimental school. The catchment area has numerous and obvious advantages over the lottery, while arguments for a lottery ultimately fall on unsupportable premises. The primary benefit of the catchment area is that it supports the University's notion of a "neighborhood school," available not only to Penn affiliates but to all those in the school's immediate vicinity. Penn's obligation to its faculty and staff who live in the West Philadelphia area is of critical importance here. The public school plan was unveiled more than 19 months ago with them in mind, and rightfully so, as the University tries to attract stable homeowners to the neighborhood. Bear in mind that the University could have more easily met this goal by establishing a private school solely for the children of Penn employees. But it didn't, and many children in the community do stand to benefit from what may be among the best public educations in the city. Indeed, contrary to the protestations of many who support a lottery, a student body drawn from the proposed catchment area will have greater racial diversity than one drawn from a larger lottery pool. Claims that the school will only benefit white, wealthy University City residents are unsupported, and the past failures of lottery systems bear this reasoning out. Penn has on occasion been rightfully accused of being a "bully" to its West Philadelphia neighbors, but in this case the label is misplaced. The School Board is by all appearances in support of a traditional catchment area, and the University's interests here are in concert, not conflict, with those of the community. And a traditional catchment area for the new Penn-aided school is the best plan to improve public education in the community.