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Clearly the point was about the Texas suburbs close to major metropolitan areas....like North Dallas, Austin, Houston etc which are much more directly comparable to NJ than West Texas and how you are trying to conflate.
You are attempting to cherry pick the few schools in TX that may fit your narrative. Those Texas towns with higher performing schools come with the states's highest taxes - proving once and for all that you cannot have low taxes and high education. Add those schools are relative to other Texas schools. They'd be average at best in NJ. If you do an apples to apple's comparison of each state's top schools, you'd find that Texas' best is nowhere near as good as NJ's best. The fact is, what Texas spends per student is embarrassing. And the results of that policy don't lie.
You also state that total tax burden is what you are arguing, not just property taxes. But then TX's dirty little secret is revealed - it levies no income tax because it instead sucks the federal treasury dry far more than states with income taxes that self-fund like NJ.
Funny, but yesterday I googled myself, and found out there is a person with the same name as me in NJ. As far as I know, there is no one with our last name in the US who isn't from my DHs family.
Anyway, I snooped a little and happened to notice that this person's property tax in NJ was almost $20,000. a year. My God, how do any of you do it?
I've never had property taxes over $2400. in my whole life.
Highland Village 2.24%
Plano 2.21%
Prosper 2.48%
Allen 2 4%
Frisco 2.2%
My narrative has been fairly consistent. Good schools don't come cheap. As you can see, the tax rates in this area are not low. They are comparable to most NJ towns. The only thing making a property tax bill lower in most of these North Dallas towns is the fact that real estate near Dallas is worth a fraction of what real estate close to NYC costs for reasons hopefully obvious to you.
If these areas had assessments similar to the value of NJ real estate, taxes would be similar. Now the question I have is about your narrative. If North Dallas is in your view such a great place to live with supposedly cheap housing, low taxes, and nationally top ranked schools, why is it far less populous than this area? More importantly, why are you here instead of there?
While you may consider those property tax rates to be high, they are not by Texas, or at least DFW, standards. They may even be on the low end. So, no, you did not prove that those schools "come with the state's highest taxes."
Not really. The methodology you cite relies on their analysis of how many students do well on the appropriate statewide tests and graduate at high rates, as explained in their rankings methodology. Two flaws with that methodology. First, state tests are not universal and all or not created equal. It probably doesn't take much to do well on a Texas state test compared to states with more stringent academics.
Second, Texas is dead last in the country - that's 50th - in the percentage of its population that are high school graduates. So much for it having high graduation rates. Given the graduation rate, the fact that only 28% of TX 8th graders demonstrate proficiency in reading comprehension, and 32% are proficient in math, I'd say it's a fair bet that only the very few TX high school students who are proficient in reading and math even show up to take statewide high school tests.
You are attempting to cherry pick the few schools in TX that may fit your narrative. Those Texas towns with higher performing schools come with the states's highest taxes - proving once and for all that you cannot have low taxes and high education. Add those schools are relative to other Texas schools. They'd be average at best in NJ. If you do an apples to apple's comparison of each state's top schools, you'd find that Texas' best is nowhere near as good as NJ's best. The fact is, what Texas spends per student is embarrassing. And the results of that policy don't lie.
You also state that total tax burden is what you are arguing, not just property taxes. But then TX's dirty little secret is revealed - it levies no income tax because it instead sucks the federal treasury dry far more than states with income taxes that self-fund like NJ.
Um, did you even read your link's methodology? Texas ranks 41 when it comes to taking money from the federal government and it also calls Texas a low dependency state. What Texas gets from the federal government, which may largely or entirely (depending on the year, iirc) be composed of what Texas residents pay in to the federal government, only makes up a large portion of the state's spending because the state has low taxes, not because Texas is sucking unearned money out of the Treasury.
Not really. The methodology you cite relies on their analysis of how many students do well on the appropriate statewide tests and graduate at high rates, as explained in their rankings methodology. Two flaws with that methodology. First, state tests are not universal and all or not created equal. It probably doesn't take much to do well on a Texas state test compared to states with more stringent academics.
Second, Texas is dead last in the country - that's 50th - in the percentage of its population that are high school graduates. So much for it having high graduation rates. Given the graduation rate, the fact that only 28% of TX 8th graders demonstrate proficiency in reading comprehension, and 32% are proficient in math, I'd say it's a fair bet that only the very few TX high school students who are proficient in reading and math even show up to take statewide high school tests.
Eight grader percentages are useless. I'd be more interested in data for recent high school graduates. Also, percent of adult population with a high school diploma isn't the same or useful as graduation rate, at least in Texas, seeing as the state has fixed it's problem with low graduation rates
Why are we spending so much time talking about Texas? Who the eff cares about Texas?
Generally, schools in NJ are much better. I think this is where this tangent started, and it's where it should end, because it's true.
It is true. But what is also true is that there are other states that have schools that perform at the same level without bludgeoning their residents to death in taxes. Thus the Texas example--there are others. Florida, while not having a great overall public school system also has a very high share of gold/silver star schools. Our friend Craig-D is using the poor counties in Texas (bc it is so much larger than NJ it has more poor counties) to conflate the argument. The overarching point is that schools are LOCAL. Who cares if you're in a state with a "bad public school system" or a "great public school system". If you are in the wrong locale your great state will yield a poor education or your bad state will yield a great education. Texas has 26 blue ribbon schools, NJ has 10. Do you really think parents who have their kids in one of the 26 are concerned about Craig-Ds take on the overall Texas HS grad rate? No. Their kids are getting top notch educations.
It is true. But what is also true is that there are other states that have schools that perform at the same level without bludgeoning their residents to death in taxes. Thus the Texas example--there are others. Florida, while not having a great overall public school system also has a very high share of gold/silver star schools. Our friend Craig-D is using the poor counties in Texas (bc it is so much larger than NJ it has more poor counties) to conflate the argument. The overarching point is that schools are LOCAL. Who cares if you're in a state with a "bad public school system" or a "great public school system". If you are in the wrong locale your great state will yield a poor education or your bad state will yield a great education. Texas has 26 blue ribbon schools, NJ has 10. Do you really think parents who have their kids in one of the 26 are concerned about Craig-Ds take on the overall Texas HS grad rate? No. Their kids are getting top notch educations.
Have fun in Texas, then! They're still fighting the Civil War down there, so I am sure they would love any help they can get!
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