CPS Obsessed

A reader writes in… (is that line from the old Roseanne RoseannaDanna SNL skit?)  (for those of you old enough to remember, that is.)

Anyhow, got this note today and I figured since it takes a village to figure out CPS, perhaps we can all join in to help this guy out…

I have a 4 1/2 and a 3 year old daughters and we live in the city and we are trying to figure out the CPS game. I was wondering if you had any ideas on how the free Pre-K for all enrollment works. I know is is based on income. However, it seems like there are more factors then just income. Also, I know that there are waiting lists at schools for spots. How would I go about making sure both my daughters got in at the same school and the same class? Any thoughts on how that would work?

Well, to start off, nobody knows how much longer Pre-K for all will be around.  Funding was retained this year and frankly I’m not quite sure why since CPS is so broke.  In the past, the free PreK (called State Pre-K) was used almost exclusively by families with kids who were considered “at risk” in some way.  That could be financial or developmental.  It was supposedly pretty easy to get your child in… for instance I was told that by having an only child I could convince CPS that he had socialability needs that needed addressing, etc.  But it wasn’t all that popular with families who didn’t have “at risk” kids. 

Once our pal Rod Blago instituted Pre-School for All (great idea, just no money to fund it, Rod!) it became the hottest ticket in town.  Who wouldn’t want 5-day a week free play-based PreK just steps from their home?  Suddenly the programs were overrun with applicants.  Depending on the neighborhood, many kids applying are not high risk at all, but they do qualify.   

Here is my understanding of the program:
-Kid who are at risk still get priority (financial or physical or mental etc)
-The principals seem to decide how to prioritize who gets in and there doesn’t seem to be an official CPS policy (for instance some give neighborhood kids priority, some give 4-year-olds priority.)
-Much of it depends on how many classes the school has.  My neighborhood school has 2 classes.  My son’s school has 6 classes.  Big difference.
-Not every school has PKFA.  For instance Bell does not have room for it.
-Living in a neighborhood does not in any way guarantee you a spot in the local PKFA as it does for Kindergarten.  (Which has been a source of apparent rage in many neighborhoods.)

And here are some of the challenges:
- Because there are so many applicants chomping at the bit, the principal is up against a wall to figure out who gets the spots.  Early.  However in theory they should be saving some spots for kids who are truly at risk but come in to the school to register in the summer.   Those are the kids who really NEED those preK spots.  But I’m not sure whether principals ARE indeed saving spots.  Or how they would know how many to save. 
-Principals have to decide whether to prioritize siblings of kids who may live out of district.  Many schools have kids in older grades who’re out of district and of course the parents want all the kids at the same school.  That causes problems.

How it usually works:
As far as I can tell, there is a bit of anarchy here.  Each school does it differently and begins to take applications for the following school year at some point in the spring of the previous year.  The principal then has their pool of applicants and has to decide who gets the spots.  Some may do first come/first served.  Others may use their priority scheme.     I don’t *think* there is any CPS standard for this.  And parents can apply to as many as they want.

So, answer the freakin’ question already, lady! (Ok, ok!)
For whatever school/s you’re targeting, I would get in there about a week after school starts (give them a week to settle down or they’ll hate you for bothering them) and inquire as to their specific process of admission.  Keep asking until you get a firm answer (this could take a few tries and you might even get different answers!)  Confirm your knowledge with other parents to up the chance that you have correct information.  Get your application in as soon as they say you can.  confirm that they have your application in the right pile/place/folder.   Continue to “maintain a dialogue” (nice way of saying staying on their butt) to let them know of your interst in a nice, flattering way.  Ask whether they have a priorty scheme and what it is to determine whether your 3yo has a shot at getting in (so you know whether to have back-up.)  Continue to monitor the waiting list progress without being a pain (since you’ll have to suck up to get both kids in the same class.)  Wait until next year’s budget comes out to determine whether PKFA will exist next year.  Ponder whether you should apply to any private schools just in case.

God, this is getting comical.  (And long.)
However I think it might be an accurate representation.  I haven’t actually gone through the process though.

Can anyone else help me out here?  Does your school do it differently?  Any tips for this guy?

And as Roseanne RosannaDanna (played by Gilda Radner) would end her little speech, “It’s always something… “