This same thing came up 8 years ago! See link to this story:
Thomas Jefferson HS and remediation.
Also see this story in the Washington Post:
Remediation at TJ HS They must have changed their admissions system back to test-only and now want to change it again (?).
The thing that bothers me the most about the lottery approach to selective high schools is that it 1) takes away slots from kids who've earned them and 2) provides slots to a very few kids in the target groups while ignoring the vast majority of other kids in the same group. All the kids in a disadvantaged may be suffering from problems that can affect their achievement, but the majority of them seem to get ignored when the discussion focuses on schools with highly selective admissions.
Personally, I prefer the idea of
Middle College as a high school option. Middle College is a dual enrollment program, typically with a community college and typically free. Two of my kids took this route as part of the local school district. It has a ton of advantages: free college (one of mine got a free AS), being able to take college classes while still in an environment where people will help you adapt to the demands of college and etc. etc. Not to mention being taught by people who tend to be highly qualified.
