Best schools for special education - Plano, Frisco, Lewisville?

[cmcgarvey]

Thank you for your responses! This is very helpful information. The general idea I have gotten form researching, talking to people, etc. is what you said jdallas and DitsyD. We are leaning toward not moving, mainly for the reason that the services will not be as good for my child in special education. I am actually very satisfied with the level of funding for special ed here in CA, and what services our son is given through our local public school...really could not ask for more. Our district has its downsides for sure (as they all do), but for special education services I think we have really lucked out.

It would be a no brainer to stay in CA, except for the fact that Plano does seem to have great schools for kids who are in the mainstream (I have 2 other typically developing children), and the job offer is very appealing to my husband.

Thanks again for all your input!

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by numbersguy100

I agree that I don't really see a high correlation between marginal dollars once you get close to the median. As in, if you currently spend $10k per student and median is $12k, your marginal dollar won't provide as much as if you are at $6k against a $12k median. I'd be careful about putting Finland (or other European socialist democracies) into the discussion. Finland gets a huge boost due to very high taxes and redistribution that alleviate many of the poverty-related issues that plague the worst performing American schools. Not sure how big that effect that is by orders of magnitude, but it's definitely not apples to apples without mentioning that difference.

Good post.

[WorldKlas]

Originally Posted by cmcgarvey

Thank you for your responses! This is very helpful information. The general idea I have gotten form researching, talking to people, etc. is what you said jdallas and DitsyD. We are leaning toward not moving, mainly for the reason that the services will not be as good for my child in special education. I am actually very satisfied with the level of funding for special ed here in CA, and what services our son is given through our local public school...really could not ask for more. Our district has its downsides for sure (as they all do), but for special education services I think we have really lucked out.

It would be a no brainer to stay in CA, except for the fact that Plano does seem to have great schools for kids who are in the mainstream (I have 2 other typically developing children), and the job offer is very appealing to my husband.

Thanks again for all your input!

If you are happy, and have the option to stay then I agree that staying makes a whole lot of sense. Most transferees from CA love the cost of housing but tend to express great longing for the natural beauty and weather in CA. If you were disappointed in the education for one of your kids, the long, hot humid summers and lack of natural beauty would gnaw at your soul.

[roverchris]

We recently moved from the Plano ISD and have a son with Aspergers. He attended Gulledge Elementary and we were very happy with the support he received. We did have to get outside services with occupational therapy and behavorial therapy, but the school really helped him succeed in his academics. We were in the DISD at "highly rated" Hexter Elementary. Things were ok from K-2, with the typical struggles, but 3rd grade was a disaster. Too long of a story to get into but his teacher blamed him for his issues and would only criticize him and considered him a trouble maker.

Bottom line is no school is perfect. Plano ISD does as good of a job as they can and the teachers we encountered were caring and did everything to help our son. We are not able to afford $25K for the Winston School, but we will never regret sending him to the Plano ISD.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by numbersguy100

I agree that I don't really see a high correlation between marginal dollars once you get close to the median. As in, if you currently spend $10k per student and median is $12k, your marginal dollar won't provide as much as if you are at $6k against a $12k median. I'd be careful about putting Finland (or other European socialist democracies) into the discussion. Finland gets a huge boost due to very high taxes and redistribution that alleviate many of the poverty-related issues that plague the worst performing American schools. Not sure how big that effect that is by orders of magnitude, but it's definitely not apples to apples without mentioning that difference.

Point taken that comparing lilly white, tiny, and Nordic in ethos Finland to The US vis a vis education poses challenges.

To remake my point in line with your thinking..........looking at some recent OECD data testing shows that US students are bested by several high poverty countries that spend less, most of these far less, than The
US. Spain, Italy, Vietnam, Slovak Republic, Russian Federation (that is shocking to me), Slovenia and several poor areas in China and India.

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by EDS_

Point taken that comparing lilly white, tiny, and Nordic in ethos Finland to The US vis a vis education poses challenges.

To remake my point in line with your thinking..........looking at some recent OECD data testing shows that US students are bested by several high poverty countries that spend less, most of these far less, than The
US. Spain, Italy, Vietnam, Slovak Republic, Russian Federation (that is shocking to me), Slovenia and several poor areas in China and India.

No amount of spending in US is going to produce better results if many parents use public education as little more than free childcare. It's an attitude that is far more pervasive than I think many want to realize.

[TheOverdog]

Yeah OP this is the real Texas. Complaining endlessly with slightly coded statements about special education students and taxes. The differences are real.

[cmcgarvey]

Thanks again for all the feedback. It is very helpful for us in our decision making process!

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

Yeah OP this is the real Texas. Complaining endlessly with slightly coded statements about special education students and taxes. The differences are real.

Who is using coded language? I grew up in New England so my opinions aren't Texan in the slightest. In New England, Massachusetts manages to get a decent return for its higher spending per student in terms of outcomes. But Connecticut spends more and gets less than its neighbor. New York spends more than anyone but its results are only slightly above average. So my point is that spending more money isn't always a magic bullet. Though as I stated, if you are spending the least per capita on education, you can probably stand to increase your spend to see some improved results. States need to figure out what is working and what isn't before they just add money to dysfunctional systems.

As to my comment about Finland and taxes, my point was that they probably spend less than the US on education because I think a lot of poverty alleviation efforts are running through our education spending, and their social safety nets perform many of the functions that we make our schools perform.