If the board is committed to diversity, it could be difficult to balance that with school choice because although Nashville is becoming more diverse there are still racially identifiable communities. So if the system returns to neighborhood schools, the racial mix at some schools will probably be unbalanced. That is a true statement. But Olchefske is determined to prevent the inequities that characterized the educational system in 1954 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that schools were separate and unequal. In 1997, a year before open choice, Olchefske crafted a weighted student formula that assigns students with varying dollar amounts.
Schools receive a base amount for every regular education student.
But they get more money for students who live in poverty or who have special education or bilingual needs. That provides some schools with the extra resources to design programs tailored to the students' needs. Targeted funding was briefly revived this year as the school board discussed its 2001-02 budget proposal. But the board voted to drop the idea before it presented the budget to the mayor's office last week. Seattle's Eric Benson, principal at Nathan Hale High, knows his school is popular because there's a 150-student waiting list.