When most of us hear the word lottery we think about someone winning a jackpot of money. Thursday evening, the word lottery meant a chance for parents to provide a better education for their children.
The Harmony School of Excellence, a charter school in South Austin held a lottery to decide which students could get into an extremely limited number of open seats for the 2010-2011 school year. More than 400 people applied for only nine open spots in the charter school's first through eighth grade classes.
"I have faith in our public schools, I just have a little more faith in the charter schools," said Richard Walker, a parent participating in Thursday night's lottery.
Walker's young son was able to get into The Harmony School's kindergarten class. His daughter in the second grade did not.
The Harmony School of Excellence is a college prep school specializing in math and sciences. The charter school also prides itself in smaller classrooms which the principal says gives students more individual attention.
"I think the parents are willing to bring their children for a better education to a charter school, but because of the seats they are not able to have that chance," said Ramazan Coskuner, the principal.
There are a total of four Harmony Charter schools in the Austin area and three of them will be holding their own lotteries soon.
For more information click here: http://www.hsaaustin.org/
