School lottery makes a game out of education in D.C.

Because the results were posted online, with kids identified by numbers, it was possible to see that hundreds of people applied for a single spot. Parents were already beginning to calculate their chances, cross-referencing numbers on wait lists, trying to determine who is ahead of them, where else they got accepted and the chances they'll move up. In one parent forum, someone asked whether it was cool to "Work the waiting list, Manhattan-style?" In other words, pester the school to bump you up.

In typical Washington style, that parent was cautioned by righteous, wonky types that the practice is illegal in our nation's capital.

Ha.

Where did all of this get me?

Thanks to my frantic, late-night rearranging, I cruised into a spot for my kindergartner in one of the city's lowest-performing schools far from my house -- a bumbling typo on my part.

And we are looking at spots like 182, 117 or even a lucky 29 at a good school in our neighborhood, but not within our boundaries.

Unsurpassed interest

D.C. schools spokeswoman Jennifer Calloway said this was a record year for the lottery, thanks in part to a new computer system that made it easier to try for those golden-ticket schools that were open to out-of-boundary transfers.

It's hard to tell if the interest in District schools is because of new leadership and new programs or simply a bad economy that makes parochial and private schools impossible for families in a city with one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation.

Yes, the District has some great schools people are clamoring to get into. But there still aren't enough of them in enough neighborhoods. And a lot of parents are just like me: wary of taking a leap of faith at the not-so-great schools and entrusting them with our kids. Maybe I should start playing Powerball.

E-mail me your public school quandaries at http://dvorakp@washpost.com.