New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Thomas L. Friedman recently wrote a column about the lottery to select the incoming class of Baltimore, Maryland’s new SEED School. The school, which will open in August 2008, is a symbol of hope for generational change to many parents residing in the state’s underserved and lower income communities. Admission to the SEED school nearly guarantees that their children will receive a quality education and a chance at college admission regardless of the environments from which they’ve come. This year’s 300 applicants competed for eighty slots in the hopes that their children might replicate the success of SEED’s alumni in Washington, D.C. Friedman describes his thoughts during the lottery process:

It was impossible to watch all those balls tumbling around inside the cage and not see them as the people in that room tumbling around inside, waiting to see who would be the lucky one to slide out and be blessed. No wonder a portrait of hope and anxiety was on every face.

Ten years ago, Echoing Green Fellows Eric Adler and Rajiv Vinnakota launched the SEED school as the nation’s first college-preparatory public boarding school for children of lower income families. The D.C. school’s 97% college admission rate disproves common misconceptions about this population’s interest in education and capacity to succeed. Unfortunately, however, the large number of sixth graders that must be turned away is a clear indication that there’s a significant unmet need for innovate programs like SEED.

Read the full column here.