If you're thinking about relocating from Long Island to Raleigh, North Carolina...

[prix1895]

Originally Posted by kateb411

Well, my kids are grown and my taxes are $13K a year...in Levittown...so for me, it might be a good option. Sorry it didn't work out for you. Besides the schools, how do you like it?

the people around here, are nice at first, they think you are just visting.when they find out you moved here, there attitdude changes. but she is right they don't smile around here, you can't even joke around hear.

[JillBoBill]

There's a lot of pages here, but maybe this will help someone who's thinking about making this move.

DON'T DO IT. Especially if you have kids.

For example (and this is a true story)....

My sister has two kids. She's not a very great mother, so I won't say that the entirety of this story is all the NC school system's fault, but.... Her oldest daughter struggled with school and has a mild speech impediment that she went to therapy for. She was held back twice and pushed on to the next grade even when she didn't improve. The schools claimed she was "just a little slow", but that she was fine and didn't need extra help.

The kids spent a year in NY with their grandfather a year or two ago. He enrolled them in school there and within a week of being in third grade, my oldest niece was put through a battery of tests to determine why she wasn't learning at the same level of other kids in the same grade (three years younger). The answer, she's certifiably, literally, retarded.

NC considers mental retardation "just a little slow". Think about that.


EDIT: My father (the girls' grandfather) lives in Hauppague, so that's where they went to public school.

[joeohrablo]

one incident like that isn't merit enough to warrant not moving. How about the disgusting pollution all over long island? I have been to raleigh 8 times and can't remember once seeing the roads and parking lots flooding with garbage like on Long island. How about the unbelivable traffic, property taxes, hurrendous snow storms in the winter and the never ending Rat race to survive. I am moving tomorrow (literally) and I can tell you although I'll miss my friends and some of the places to eat and hang out I am 100% ready for this change.

[NYer]

Originally Posted by JillBoBill

There's a lot of pages here, but maybe this will help someone who's thinking about making this move.

DON'T DO IT. Especially if you have kids.

For example (and this is a true story)....

My sister has two kids. She's not a very great mother, so I won't say that the entirety of this story is all the NC school system's fault, but.... Her oldest daughter struggled with school and has a mild speech impediment that she went to therapy for. She was held back twice and pushed on to the next grade even when she didn't improve. The schools claimed she was "just a little slow", but that she was fine and didn't need extra help.

The kids spent a year in NY with their grandfather a year or two ago. He enrolled them in school there and within a week of being in third grade, my oldest niece was put through a battery of tests to determine why she wasn't learning at the same level of other kids in the same grade (three years younger). The answer, she's certifiably, literally, retarded.

NC considers mental retardation "just a little slow". Think about that.


EDIT: My father (the girls' grandfather) lives in Hauppague, so that's where they went to public school.

In all fairness, you have to be more specific. I am not doubting that this happened. The problem is that there is a range of quality when you look at schools- within districts, counties, and states, in NC and even in NY! Hauppauge is an excellent district. You did not say where this incident happened in NC. Do you really think the worst district in NY is better than the best in NC? Or an average district in NC? Do you really think tha tyou would have had as much attention paid to your niece in Roosevelt, or a rural upstate school?

We do have special ed down here, and gifted programs, and AP. The amount of services and quality varies... you cannot compare apples & oranges.
In NC, as in NY, you get what you pay for, despite all efforts to socially engineer.

Saavy transplants research the schools their kids will attend before they move, or at least before they buy. It is no accident that we tend to be settling near each other! You have to look at more than how big a house you can afford.

[Jdawg8181]

Originally Posted by Rachael84

There aren't going to be any layoffs in the NYC department of ed.

no one is invincible to layoffs.

[Rachael84]

Originally Posted by Jdawg8181

no one is invincible to layoffs.

It's not in our contract unless the city announces it's bankrupt and in a state of emergency. So we're pretty safe in our jobs.