Skyline is a total package. It offers foreign languages and some AP classes not available at other high schools. It also has some sports not offered at Conrad.

You still don't get it, because you never went to the school or have kids who do--yet.

Part of what makes Skyline work is the balance between college prep courses (clusters) and the vocational. Unlike Booker T, where they think everyone will win a Grammy or an Academy Award some day, or Townview, where everyone at SEM is in the 40% percentile or above, Skyline has a mix. You have regular, AP track, vocational and other kids in band together. In the lunchroom together. In the sports fields together.

If you take away 25% of the clusters, you upset the balance. You disturb the program. You also are moving kids against their will to a school they did not apply for--and that has to be illegal somehow. These kids signed a contract in 8th grade to attend the cluster at Skyline, to perform well and behave. They have kept their end, how can DISD just arbitrarily move them--and without any input from the teachers whose programs are moving, the elective teachers who could lose too many students as well --much less the parents and kids?

It is a double hit: the way they did it, and what they did.

Understand? I will use magic to explain. Imagine that the Park Cities and their schools are annexed to DISD.

Take one fourth of HP Scots and put them at North Dallas high school. Tell the HP quarterback he can still play football at North Dallas HS. Tell the girl who is on the swim team that she can still do "other stuff." Now, would that seem right, fair? Tell them that they didn't need those German classes, or the senior trip. Tell them that it is the same, although they won't have Mom serving them food from a sushi bar, and there are some other things, like limited parking, so they will be bussed now.

Think about it. Would the HP parents just think it was okay?

[Ed Note: OK, now we're getting somewhere. But we need a list. What, exactly, will be lost? Lets get some specifics. Do we know what resources the students at Skyline in the affected clusters use on a regular basis that will no longer be available at Conrad?

This makes a great synopsis. Now we just need the details.]