JCPS KY Senate President David Williams, Burkesville Sen Dan Seum Louisville

JCPS Student Assignment Plan: Some powerful Ky. lawmakers want it gone
Bill would clear way for students to attend closest school
Children would have the right to attend the public school closest to their home, under a bill pre-filed Wednesday by two Kentucky lawmakers.
Kentucky Senate President David Williams and Sen. Dan Seum of Louisville said they filed the bill after receiving "a lot of phone calls from parents and concerned citizens" in the wake of a judge's ruling that state law gives school boards, not parents, the right to decide which school a student attends.
"We wanted to make it clear that the intent of the law is to promote student attendance at neighborhood schools," Williams said.
According to Williams-Seum bill — titled the Neighborhood Schools Bill — parents would have the right to enroll their children for attendance in the public school closest to their home, except in cases where the school has academic or skilled prerequisites, such as at magnet and traditional schools.
It also states that in cases where a neighborhood school reaches capacity, the children who live closest must receive priority for enrollment. In addition, no child currently attending the school would be displaced to permit another child to attend.
Williams said the bill would not force every child to attend their neighborhood school.
"This bill would allow parents to enroll their child anywhere they want to, with permission of the school board," he said. "If they don't want to enroll them in the school closest to their home, they don't have to."
Debbie Wesslund, chairwoman of the Jefferson County Board of Education, said she is concerned about losing "local control and oversight, which would limit our community's input to a student-assignment plan."
In the wake of a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision throwing out the district's old desegregation plan, JCPS created a new plan that weighs the socioeconomic characteristics of a student's neighborhood when making assignment decisions. District officials say it's meant to avoid segregated schools that harm student achievement.
But some parents argue that the district's assignment plan forces their children to attend more distant or lower-performing schools. And there have been several legal efforts to overturn the plan
Williams said there is "no data to indicate that this bill would have any sort of racial effect at all."
"This is about giving parents the right to enroll their child in the school closest to their home," he said. "It's about getting the kids off the buses and into their neighborhood schools so parents are better able to participate in the educational process of their child."

Category:

Education

Tags:

• JCPS
• Superintendent
• Dr. Sheldon Berman
• education
• R-Burkesville Sen. Dan Seum

[naitojulia]

JCPS, it is simple. If a child lives a half mile from a school it is beyond insane and economical nonsense to spend limited tax dollars to ship him/her from that neighborhood to another because of skin color. I agree that race SHOULD NOT MATTER, so why does is limit the choice of schools? Busing is a prime example of why LIMITED government involvement is usually best.