A lottery number is the information that an applicant needs to know where he or she fits in the admissions process. Usually, this information will be provided to applicants by the Department of Education.
However, when the DOE decided to refuse to give this information to families, many parents took it to the Freedom of Information law. They requested that the Department provide lottery numbers so they can see how their children are being assigned to schools.
The Department of Education said that the lottery numbers consisted of long strings of numbers and letters. They added that they would not be able to provide the information to families because the process involved automated decision making systems. In addition, the DOE claimed that the lottery numbers did not give students relative chances in their preferred schools.
Some parents argued that the single lottery number for all schools would be unfair. But a recent study showed that the system did not penalize students. Instead, a single lottery number increased students’ chances of matching to their top choice.
According to the DOE, lottery numbers were created to provide a uniform distribution in each city’s pool of applicants. It also said that the numbers are created from a random number generator.
However, parents say that the lottery numbers are confusing and have no real meaning. They claim that the Department of Education should have explained how the numbers are created. Fortunately, some families did receive a detailed explanation.