Personally, I don't see why they have this policy -- it would make more sense, to me, to let parents make requests and match as many as possible, then fill the classes with those who didn't have a preference. But what do I know.
Here it just isn't done-- you can't mention specific teacher names. There are too many parents who'd push to have the teachers with good reputations. I can understand why they don't want to deal.
We have had private conversations with the current-grade teacher to make sure she understands what we think DS needs (again, no mentioning names). And I think the staff is aware of many issues and usually eager to place kids correctly.
