From california to albany

[lovetoboat]

Based on your current rent of $2000 I would say you are much better off buying a house. the market is down and they are at a good price right now.

If you have kids Niskayuna is an awesome place. we just moved from there to northern virginia. the schools are supposed to be great here in VA but I see no difference between what we had in Niskayuna.
The town is smaller but you are by Albany, Schenectady near Saratoga. There is enough in the town that you can grab quick groceries and be home within a half hour. Easy commute to Albany (I did it for years).

PM me if you have any questions but you should look into the schools there and google housing to see if there is anything you like. Good luck!

[lovetoboat]

Oh yeah-not to worry about being from another country..we have quite a bit of diversity in Niskayuna. Many people come from other countries for KAPL and GE R&D.

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by tech2enable

Proposition 13 is the cause of school funding problems, in certain schools they have to have teacher-parent fundraisers for activities, but I do note that spending in California is high, in wealthier school districts or property wealthy ones such as Marin County, this really isn't a problem, however I read that funding is also shifted to the state.

I would hardly call Oakland CA a wealthy school district and yet the budget works out to nearly 16k per student...

Now Piedmont CA is definitly upper class and parents are each asked to donate... one of my co-workers donates $1000 each year for his public school child... it pays for extra curricular activities such as field trips, band and sports...

My Father was PTA president prior to Prop 13 in Hayward CA and his biggest task was fund raisers... we had raffles, bake sales, paper drives and the annual Holiday Festival... and this was pre- Prop 13... we also had one Saturday each month to work on landscaping and painting.

If 16k isn't enough... what amount per student would be deemed sufficient?

Remember School Construction, Renovation and Infrastructure is specifically EXEMPT from Prop 13 limitations...

[misstheheat]

Originally Posted by Ultrarunner

I would hardly call Oakland CA a wealthy school district and yet the budget works out to nearly 16k per student...

Now Piedmont CA is definitly upper class and parents are each asked to donate... one of my co-workers donates $1000 each year for his public school child... it pays for extra curricular activities such as field trips, band and sports...

My Father was PTA president prior to Prop 13 in Hayward CA and his biggest task was fund raisers... we had raffles, bake sales, paper drives and the annual Holiday Festival... and this was pre- Prop 13... we also had one Saturday each month to work on landscaping and painting.

If 16k isn't enough... what amount per student would be deemed sufficient?

Remember School Construction, Renovation and Infrastructure is specifically EXEMPT from Prop 13 limitations...

Times have certainly changed since your father was involved with the PTA!! In most school districts maybe all in CA... if the PTA did not exist school supplies would not exist. That includes toilet paper to library books. The only thing they don't pay for is staff salary.

I just move back to upstate NY from CA and one of the main reasons was how poor the public schooling system is! And No I did not have my kids in LA unified either. Most districts in CA will have a nurse dedicated to it, not to a school. Music and Art are not even offered and PE isn't required until Jr high. You have to love when your childs 65 year old first grade teacher is instructing him on how to play soccer.. and then informs you that "you should work on skipping with your son"

If I hadn't seen it... I wouldn't have believed it!!! Just as a reference point I lived in Thousand Oaks in Ventura county - a Blue Ribbon school. I now reside in a suburban school district in upstate NY. CA has better weather and that's about it!! And yes I miss it!!