We now have 700 students and a waiting list. Compare GEMS' success to the days before Gardendale became a magnet, when enrollments were declining and the student body was becoming less diverse. People came because GEMS would provide a better education for their kids. When magnet schools first appeared on the education scene over two decades ago, they were conceived to be the voluntary component of mandatory desegregation efforts, primarily in urban school districts. This remains a fundamental purpose of magnet schools today.
Magnets are a reason for the bus ride.
Now, say experts, magnet schools also play a vital role in offering families choice. But, unlike charter schools, which have dominated the national debate about choice recently, magnet schools provide choice within existing state laws and local regulations governing public education. Because they work. And they work because they're chosen. Still, some critics wonder if magnet schools can deliver on their promises to attain racial balance in schools and enhance student achievement.