“Secret Report” Shows Former D.C. School Chancellor Rigged School Lottery For Public Officials
Parents with school aged children know about the stressful process to get their child into a “good” school. Thousands of parents right now are waiting on lottery lists for their desired educators in D.C. and one lady has made that wait even longer by letting kids of public officials skip in front of them. According to a report acquired by the Washington Post, former Chancellor Kaya Henderson routinely helped well-connected parents break the rules of D.C.’s competitive school lottery.
If you’re wondering how the school lottery works, this is how serious it is, in the words of Washington Post:
The system — designed by a Nobel Prize-winning economist to level the playing field for families regardless of address, income or connections — is an annual ritual for families in the nation’s capital. Every spring, parents find themselves talking lottery numbers and waiting-list rankings; many walk away unsatisfied. More than 22,000 students entered the lottery this year, and about 13,000 ended up on a waiting list.
Their report details how the chancellor used her position to place children with parents of certain “political clout” unfairly in schools they would otherwise not have access to. This line-jumping includes two senior aides to D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser. Henderson also denied eligible children the right to b-line to the stellar educators, to save room for her uppity government friends. This included a deaf Vietnamese immigrant whose request that her daughter be allowed to attend a school where she could practice sign language: she was rejected.
Kaya Henderson stepped last fall as Chancellor and is now working as a fashion model. Yes, you read that right.
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