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Harvard Crimson

“School Assigning Process Criticized”

“‘What’s the point of having people list schools and calling the process ‘School Choice’ if there is no choice in the matter,’ Traietti said. ‘How are we to know that we have to ‘play’ the process by what schools to list?’
Last night, Pathak presented his new model of the system in an effort to decrease the mistrust and “strategizing” in the process. His ideas stem from his own previous experience in New York and Boston Public Schools. This “strategy-proof algorithm,” where parents are not penalized for ranking overly-demanded schools, would endorse honest ranking, he said.  The percentage of students receiving their first choice, which is currently at a high 87 percent, might be overstated, he said, since they may only be getting their stated first choice.   Pathak suggested that the process should allow “seat swapping.” In this algorithm, students can either keep their assignment if it is truly their top choice school, or request a trade if it is not.”

By Rediet T. Abebe

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