What really ought to be done is to replicate whatever instructional models are being used at that school and other successful schools, and promote excellence in teaching instead of tenure. Then these sorts of issues would never arise.
In the short term, I'm not so worried about the plight of intellectual giants from wealthy families as I am about promoting more educational opportunity across the board. I don't see it as a tragedy that a few wealthy kids don't get instant ins to prestigious universities and may have to do so more on their own merits without elite-school cred-- and if they're capable of getting into TJ under a merit-based system, I'm sure that any who should succeed will succeed at getting into a good university.
I also don't think that losing a bit of elite status (if slipping from first to second on a ranking really causes that in an important way) dilutes a school's actual quality-- does it in your opinion? Do a bit of quota-based racial and/or economic mixing, and extra remedial classes for students who may have been educationally disadvantaged, really decrease a school's quality, or simply make it more open to serving a wider range of potential students? TJ and similar schools appear to be a valuable resource in short supply. If the students taking those remedial classes are experiencing benefits from the better school environment, is it harmful to anyone that they needed some remediation upon entry? Do disadvantaged students also have the right to a full spectrum of educational opportunities, or do only the intellectual elite with proven academic achievements have the right to seek entry to the better-run schools?
The tension for me is that I have these thoughts, while at the same time disliking over-inclusive GATE programs which may dumb down the content to the point that the programs may not serve the actually gifted children well, as we've discussed in other threads. I guess the reason that I find this situation different is that it's an entire school, and I don't see how including some children who need remedial classes drags down the quality of the non-remedial classes or the school as a whole. I guess it does take some extra resources to teach the remedial classes, but they're still separate.
I'd be interested to learn the extent to which the TJ environment winds up improving the outlook for the kids taking the remedial classes. If there's nothing in it for them in the end vs. their old environments, I'd wholeheartedly agree that the quota is harmful, in taking opportunity away from one group while providing none for another.
