Chicago, San Francisco Consider Admissions Changes for Magnets

By Mark Walsh

Two of the nation's largest districts are considering changes to their desegregation programs that would allow more neighborhood children to attend magnet schools that for years have been geared to citywide admissions.

In Chicago, administrators early this month proposed setting aside 30 percent of placements in the city's 43 magnet schools for neighborhood children. The proposal by the district's chief executive officer, Paul G. Vallas, has set off a debate about which students deserve access to the magnet schools--which are widely considered to be the district's best schools.

Chicago officials have already agreed to phase in their proposed neighborhood set-aside by making it 15 percent next year, with the possibility of increasing it to 30...