Tulsa School's new admission plan gets its first test

Tulsa Public Schools admitted its first class of students to two local magnet schools without using racial quotas. <br><br>This was the first major test for Superintendent David Sawyer's new admission

Thursday, April 15th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Tulsa Public Schools admitted its first class of students to two local magnet schools without using racial quotas.

This was the first major test for Superintendent David Sawyer's new admission plan. TPS admitted 310 students to next year's freshman class at Booker T Washington. About 41% are black, 46% are white and 13% are other races. That's similar to 2003's freshman class where 37% were black, 48% were white and 15% were other races.

Sawyer's new plan uses geography to maintain diversity. TPS Superintendent Dr David Sawyer: "I think we're going to have some people that are very pleased that we've been able to keep the distribution similar to what itâ€™s been in the most recent year."

While the racial balance is similar, the gender gap has widened. In next year's Booker-T freshman class, girls will greatly outnumber boys.