Charter school lottery to draw thousands of hopeful parents

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- After a long night of trick or treating, parents across our area are now lining up to enroll their kids in charter schools.

Registration for KIPP Academy's lottery system opens today and thousands of parents are expected to once again try to get their kids into the schools.

There is such a demand for charter schools that the wait list to get in to them across the state currently stands at more than 100,000 kids.

If you want to enroll your child in a KIPP Academy school for next year, now is the time to sign up for the lottery system.

Right now, there are more than 32,000 kids on the wait list for charter schools in the Houston area.

The bulk of the kids waiting to get in can be found in southwest Houston and also on the north side and southeast side of town.

Public charter schools do not get any funding from the state even though enrollment across Texas now stands at nearly a quarter million kids.

Many parents are expected at KIPP Academy campuses today to take part in a lottery

More than 13,000 of those kids attend KIPP Academy.

The KIPP Charter school system just opened 2 new schools in Houston, bringing the number of campuses in our area to 26.

But still, the wait list far exceeds the available space, so parents are lining up here now to get in the lottery.