WASHINGTON, D.C. – Washington, D.C. officials are vetting several proposals for reworking the traditional, geographic way that students are assigned to public schools.

The proposals, presented by Mayor Vincent C. Gray, aim “to improve education by making sense of a complex system that leaves some schools nearly empty while others face serious overcrowding, some schools struggling while others thrive,” the Washington Post reports.

The proposals “pit the rising philosophy of school choice, which aspires to untether the quality of a child’s education from his Zip code, against a long-standing American ideal: the school down the block that serves as the center of the neighborhood, the anchor for the community,” according to the Post.

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Predictably, many residents in more affluent parts of the city, where public school students generally perform better, aren’t too hot on the idea of district officials moving students around. Many of them purchased their homes to be close to good neighborhood schools.

“You buy a house in a neighborhood for a school within walking distance,” a parent at Janney Elementary told the Post. “You don’t buy a house to trek miles up the road.”

The mayor introduced several proposals to rework the district’s enrollment policies, from maintaining the neighborhood school system but requiring schools to set aside seats for out-of-boundary students, to a citywide lottery for high school admissions, according to the Post.

Parents interviewed by the Post were split in their view on erasing neighborhood school boundaries, but it seems many have already made up their minds.

“Though the plans have stoked concern, for most families in this historically segregated city of disparate education options, neighborhood schools are already a thing of the past. Just 25 percent of D.C. children attend their assigned neighborhood schools. The rest forgo their local option in favor of charter schools, out-of-boundary traditional schools or selective magnet high schools,” the Post reports.

Gray’s political challengers for the next mayoral election are also mixed on his proposals, which means they could be overhauled again if he’s voted out of office.

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The reality is the general momentum of education reform in America is shifting away from the neighborhood school system that has failed millions of public school students in recent decades.

From San Francisco, to Baltimore, to New Orleans, cities are shifting toward injecting more educational options and choices for families. History has shown artificial school boundaries do little more than guarantee employment for unionized school employees while simultaneously killing incentive to provide outstanding instruction.

By increasing school choices for families, and encouraging charter schools to thrive, city officials would undoubtedly improve instruction for all students, because schools would compete for enrollment.

It would put parents in charge of their child’s education, rather than school administrators and city bureaucrats.

Good schools would prosper while bad schools would wither away.

City officials will hear comments from the public about the mayor’s numerous proposals, but whatever plan they adopt, it should be focused on improving and increasing school choice.

The old way just doesn’t work.