APS right to post student transfer paperwork online

New Mexico’s K-12 public school students are allowed to request a transfer from the school whose boundaries they live in to another school that has room — and often the reason for those requests are to stay with a peer group, or to attend the school where a parent works, or to eventually play on that school’s sports team.

Those are all valid reasons that are important to families and students alike. But other than moving into new school boundaries, there’s a reason that trumps them all and gets you top priority. And that’s getting out of a failing school.

Parents, guardians and students should know that state law allows transfers from schools that have earned two F school grades in the past four years. Albuquerque Public Schools has 38 schools in that category, giving their students what amounts to an E-ticket into a school that is delivering better academic results. (A complete list of school grades is available online at ped.state. nm.us/SchoolGrading, or to check out your school’s four-year track record, go to aae.ped.state.nm.us.)

And to its credit, APS is bringing school transfers into the digital age; applications for transfers will be posted online today; in-person applications start Tuesday at the APS administration building, 6400 Uptown Blvd. NE. The first window for applications continues through Jan. 31. (For more information, go to aps.edu or call the Student Service Center at 855-9040 or the Transfer Office at 855-9050.)

PED Secretary-designate Christopher Ruszkowski has said “part of the American dream is having freedom and choices — and families deserve to have the ability to choose a great school regardless of their socio-economic status or background.”

Given that many — but not all — of the failing schools are in areas of low economic opportunity and parents in those areas may struggle to even keep their children in school on a regular basis, school districts should reach out to make seeking transfers as easy as possible.

APS has struggled with a downward slide in school grades in recent years — in the 2017 school grading period, 34 percent of APS schools received an F, up from 25 percent in 2016. And the district is home to Hawthorne Elementary, Whittier Elementary and Los Padillas Elementary, which have received F grades for at least five consecutive years. They join Dulce Elementary in northern New Mexico as the state’s four lowest-performing schools, and each has to choose from among four options outlined in the state’s Every Student Succeeds Act plan: close, relaunch as a charter school, significantly restructure, or advocate for students to transfer.

Parents, guardians and students in chronically failing schools who can, should take advantage of the transfer option — especially now that they can do it on their own time by simply logging in. Because Ruszkowski is correct: Every child deserves the opportunity to learn.