Maggie Walker Merits Wider Acclaim
Editor, Times-Dispatch:

U.S. News and World Report has released its newest issue rating the top high schools in America, and—as in years past—the Richmond area is facing massive frustration. We know we have the best high school in America (Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies), but because the school is set up in a unique way, our sister governor’s school, Thomas Jefferson, in Fairfax, has taken the prize again.

Grrrr!

Maggie Walker enrolls exceptional students from the city of Richmond and several surrounding counties, and the student’s test scores (SOLs, APs, etc) are sent back there to become part of the home school’s records. That’s good for upping the scores of the different school systems, but puts us in the unique position of being “different” enough to be unratable by the magazine. Parents’ and students’ pleas to be considered fall on deaf editorial ears.

But don’t worry, all you education junkies! MLWGS is still a shining beacon of which we can all be proud. And the fact that it is supported (and serves) the wider community makes it an asset we all share in—and benefit from.

So, there, U.S. News and World Report!! We win after all!

Sara Hillgrove. Midlothian.