Predictions: Georgia turns blue next election? (Atlanta, Washington: middle school, universities, property taxes)

[GeminiGal]

Originally Posted by neil0311

I think it's time for Democrats and liberals to stop the name calling and practice what they preach...tolerance and a welcoming of diversity in thought as well as race.

Agreed ... and the liberals call the conservatives narrow minded.

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by Georgia

Funny comment.
Let's see, Northern Blue States. Losing population due to massive taxation, big government, eroding liberties (unless your a criminal), and property taxes so high that one can barley make the payment much less the mortgage. So, are you stating you want Georgia to take the same path?

Ummm, the mistake in what you are saying is that federal politics has been dominated by the South, republicans and trickle-down econonics for a very long time. Therefore, even though the North has been turning more and more blue, it has only recently caused a shift in power from South to North. Everything that is wrong with the country right now is pretty much the cause of the Southern republican dominance. Clinton started to turn that around, but 8 years isn't long enough to fix the mess republicans created.

[Houston3]

Originally Posted by netdragon

I was expecting there weren't enough of us Northerners to diffuse the redness in Georgia. Do you think we'll pull it off next election? E.g. if metro Atlanta grows by another million?

I guess you've messed up the north as much as you can, so it's time to bring down the rest of the country! A question for you. If you think the blue states of the north are so great why are you even moving south?

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by Houston3

I guess you've messed up the north as much as you can, so it's time to bring down the rest of the country! A question for you. If you think the blue states of the north are so great why are you even moving south?

Plain and simple: Because you have left the South as such a cesspool that land value is so affordable down here. That creates an opportunity for young people like me. Atlanta is also one of the few halfway decent parts of the South. The Northeast is already too developed and generally too improved to see such a turn up there. I may move back up there when our child is school age if the property value increases enough here to buy a home up there (and if schools don't improve here and we don't get commuter rail). 5 years is a long time and schools and transportation may get better down here. In conclusion, for the young people in the Northeast, it is a victim of its own success. Anyway, call me a carpetbagger, but look at what we've already accomplished in the North metro by starting to shift the political landscape.

The Northeast's population also isn't shrinking, it has just stabilized. The government will need to invest more in mass transit for that to change.

[Houston3]

Originally Posted by netdragon

Because you have left the South as such a cesspool that land value is so affordable down here.

Another yankee democrat and their hate speech.

I think you left a cesspool for a piece of Heaven!

If I remember Oprah did show on your schools up north and they got D-.

Your party has you brain washed.

[netdragon]

Originally Posted by Houston3

If I remember Oprah did show on your schools up north and they got D-.

You may find individual metrics that show some things that Southern states do better, however the Northeastern and Northern states still round out many of the top spots, much like every year. The states change, but it is generally dominated by Northeastern and Northern states. I'm not sure what report Oprah was using, though my guess knowing her would be talking about inner city areas with high poverty.

ALEC Education Report Cards
Where are the the Southern states in the ALEC Education Report Cards? State education report cards rankings by achievement:
http://www.alec.org/am/pdf/2007_ALEC...eport_Card.pdf

Minnesota 1
Massachusetts 2
Vermont 3
New Hampshire 4
South Dakota 5
Montana 6
Kansas 7
North Dakota 8
New Jersey 9
Iowa 10
Virginia 11
Washington 12
Wisconsin 13
Nebraska 14
Oregon 15
Ohio 16
Wyoming 17
Connecticut 18
Pennsylvania 19
Maryland 20
...
California 40
Rhode Island 41
South Carolina 42
Georgia 43
Arkansas 44
West Virginia 45
Louisiana 46
Hawaii 47
Alabama 48
New Mexico 49
Mississippi 50
District of Columbia 51

(Strangely, Georgia has one of the highest spending per student, so perhaps it is rebuilding infrastructure for education)

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Report Card
U.S. Chamber of Commerce State-by-State report card has most of the red and orange states in the South: http://www.uschamber.com/icw/reportcard/default


Well-being for children

There's more. If we're talking about more than education, then two New England states rounded out the 2nd and 3rd spots for overall childhood well-being whereas 3 Southern states (Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi) finished at the bottom: http://www.childrennow.org/newsroom/...pc_070725.html

If Southerners supposedly care about "family values", they should be ashamed how horrible they do for overall children well-being.


Best educated

Additionally, in terms of education level of adults, the Northeastern states are top echelon.
"Smartest states":
http://www.statestats.com/edrank.htm

Vermont, Massachussettes, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Maine round out the top 5.



Another one: Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed, link removed

Interesting... Most of the top states ranked for education are in the Northeast. My public high school had over 10-20 students each year get accepted to Ivy League schools, more than many private schools. The year after me, the 11th ranked student got accepted to Harvard. My school was just average for Connecticut.

The only places that were suffering in my state were inner city schools in areas of extreme poverty, like you'd expect in areas of Atlanta with the same demographics. That accounts for a very small percentage of the population. It's unfortunate, and the situation is improving though it costs a lot more to educate children in extreme poverty because they often don't get the support at home. Even the students who underperformed in most of our schools still received what could be considered a great education, relatively speaking, and do well at less restrictive universities even if they didn't get into the best.

[Houston3]

Originally Posted by netdragon

Interesting... Most of the top states ranked for education are in the Northeast. My public high school had over 10-20 students each year get accepted to Ivy League schools, more than many private schools. The year after me, the 11th ranked student got accepted to Harvard. My school was just average for Connecticut.

The only places that were suffering in my state were inner city schools in areas of extreme poverty, like you'd expect in areas of Atlanta with the same demographics. That accounts for a very small percentage of the population. It's unfortunate, and the situation is improving though it costs a lot more to educate children in extreme poverty because they often don't get the support at home. Even the students who underperformed in most of our schools still received what could be considered a great education, relatively speaking, and do well at less restrictive universities even if they didn't get into the best.

You must not be one of them if you want your children in such POOR rated schools!

I know you didn't move south just for CHEAP land, tell us the real reason.

Lost you good paying job or couldn't get one up there.

Now I know why, you wants to taught us redneck toothless hillbillies trailer park hicks whats a gooden way to live. And it not be good to marrie ours first cussins. whens ya putin my indoor plumbings fer me? me feets gets cold in da wenter time goin to tha outhouse. we ben heering bout that indoor plumbin, got in photograps of it.

Here's some good reading for you.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/new-y...idea-what.html

[Houston3]

Originally Posted by netdragon

First of all, the study you are discussing focuses on 4th and 8th graders, not high schools. Second of all, the Northeastern and Northern states still round out many of the top spots, much like every year. The states change, but it is generally dominated by Northeastern and Northern states. You may find studies that pick certain metrics that have different orderings, though overall the Northeast has the best education.

Where are the the Southern states in the State education report cards? State education report cards:
http://www.alec.org/am/pdf/2007_ALEC...eport_Card.pdf

Minnesota 1
Massachusetts 2
Vermont 3
New Hampshire 4
South Dakota 5
Montana 6
Kansas 7
North Dakota 8
New Jersey 9
Iowa 10
Virginia 11
Washington 12
Wisconsin 13
Nebraska 14
Oregon 15
Ohio 16
Wyoming 17
Connecticut 18
Pennsylvania 19
Maryland 20
Maine 21
Indiana 22
Idaho 23
Alaska 24
Colorado 25

Additionally, in terms of education level of adults, the Northeastern states are top echelon.
"Smartest states":
Smartest State 2006-2007

Vermont, Massachussettes, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Maine round out the top 5.



Another one: Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed, link removed


There's more. If we're talking about more than education, then two New England states rounded out the 2nd and 3rd spots for overall childhood well-being whereas 3 Southern states (Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi) finished at the bottom: State's ranking for child well-being drops

It's interesting that statistics are propaganda much like creationism is fact, right?

No these where high schools. Bill Gates and his wife were part of the show about how all American schools have gone down. The ones they went to were in the north and money had nothing to with it. I think America has gone from number 1 in the world down to number 22. Feel free to correct me on that if I am wrong, which I am sure you will enjoy doing.

[Houston3]

Here's a little info for you on the bad/not so good Universities we have here in the south..I would list more but don't want to over tax you.

William Marsh Rice University (commonly called Rice University and opened in 1912 as The William Marsh Rice Institute for the Advancement of Letters, Science and Art) is a private, comprehensive research university located in Houston, Texas, United States, near the Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is noted for its strength in the applied sciences and its elite undergraduate division. The university has been a pioneer in the fields of nanotechnology,[1] artificial heart research, structural chemical analysis, and space science.


Baylor College of Medicine, located in Houston, Texas, USA, is one of the world's leading centers for biomedical research and clinical care. Situated within the Texas Medical Center, a 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) complex that is home to 46 member institutions and is the largest medical center in the world, Baylor College of Medicine has affiliations with eight teaching hospitals, including the world-renowned Texas Children's Hospital, MD Anderson Cancer Center, The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research (TIRR), Menninger Clinic and Texas Heart Institute. It has been consistently rated the top medical school in the greater Southwest and is widely regarded as one of the top medical schools in the country, ranked 7th overall in the 2009 U.S. News and World Report top medical schools for primary care and 13th for research[2]. Its Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is also highly rated. BCM, despite being solely focused on medical and graduate education, has become one of 63 American colleges with an endowment greater than $1 billion[3].

ABOUT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
From humble beginnings in 1876 as Texas' first public institution of higher learning, to a bustling 5,000-acre campus with 46,000-plus students and a nationally recognized faculty, Texas A&M University is one of a select few universities with land-grant, sea-grant and space-grant designations. With an enrollment of about half men and half women, 25 percent of the freshman class are the first in their family to attend college and 8,500 are graduate students. Texas A&M has two branch campuses, one in Galveston, Texas, and one in the Middle Eastern country of Qatar.

This research-intensive flagship university with 10 colleges was recently ranked first in the nation by The Washington Monthly for "tangible contributions to the public interest." U.S. News and World Report ranked Texas A&M third nationally as a "best value" among public universities. Many degree programs are ranked among the top 10 in the country.

[Houston3]

I just can't leave out the University of Texas

The University of Texas at Austin is one of the largest public universities in the United States. Founded in 1883, the university has grown from a single building, eight teachers, two departments and 221 students to a 350-acre main campus with 21,000 faculty and staff, 16 colleges and schools and almost 50,000 students.
The university’s reach goes far beyond the borders of the main campus with satellite campuses and research centers across Texas, including the J.J. Pickle Research Campus, the Marine Science Institute, the McDonald Observatory, the Montopolis Research Center and the Brackenridge tract.

With an enrollment of 11,000 students and more than 3,500 master’s and doctor’s degrees awarded annually, the graduate school is a national leader in graduate degrees awarded and one of the largest graduate schools in the nation.

More than 8,700 bachelor’s degrees are awarded annually in more than 170 fields of study and 100 majors.

The university has one of the most diverse student populations in the country and is a national leader in the number of undergraduate degrees awarded to minority students.