"I think students will benefit from continuity and teachers knowing students. This will outweigh the costs the loss of choice," says Josie P. Patterson, whose son will enroll in CRLS next fall. "Having teachers for four years makes for a better teaching and learning experience."
And the students' contrasting of choice and randomization is not a fair one, some say.
"In the future there will be more of a matching process," Jacobson says.
Shift of Emphasis
If the problem is students slipping through the cracks, then the solution should be better advising and higher-quality teaching, they say. And that can be addressed within the existing structure.
"Changing the house system is trying to solve problems that the guidance department and good teachers can address," Gregory says.
Still, the plan's shift of responsibility from students back onto teachers is positive, Gregory says.
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