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Pretty much much this ^^....Especially for folks that make between 200k and 350k which is good enough for decent suburbs, but not enough for excellent private schools in the city. It's foolish to punish your children putting them in 95% of NYC schools when you can afford the high taxes.
I purchased a house in Northeast Queens and my son is less than 2 years old right now. Every few days I try to come up with additional reasons to leave. The elementary and middle schools are great by any standards where I live, but the prospect of going to high school here seems unfathomable to me especially considering the war on merit that the mayor is waging. I myself grew up in NYC, and to have my kids go through the same garbage high schools that I went through makes me feel that I've accomplished nothing.
I think you underestimate yourself. Whichever "garbage" high school you attended a generation ago was obviously good enough for you to attain a decent job and raise your family in a nice neighborhood. But the point is that the strength of NYC high schools is that the situation used to be a handful of very good high schools, like the specialized high schools, a few decent zoned ones, and after that the quality just took a nosedive. That's just no longer true. There are many more high schools now (though certainly not enough) that adequately cater to kids who aren't tippy-top, like at Bronx Science, but also can't be in the disaster zones like Murray Bergtraum, Boys & Girls High, or the old Washington Irving near Union Square. The "middle ground" which can often offer kids an education as strong as most suburban schools, is growing and IMO will continue to do so.
I'd never tell someone don't leave the city for better schools. I understand that getting into a good high school here, with the tests, interviews, portfolios, ranking of choices, etc etc etc can be nerve-wracking for even very smart kids. It's a lot easier when you can move to the burbs and just enroll in high school like most people in America do. So Id never recommend for anyone to stay here if they chose that route. There are loads of reasons to move out the city even without considering the schools. But I' would be sure to be sure of all the options here before I left.
And FYI: Franklin K Lane is closed.
Edit: Oh, sorry. I see now that Super Mario posted about Lane, not you.
That's just not true. The demand for charter schools especially, is home-grown, local, and largely from poor neighborhoods with sub-standard public schools. Very few newcomers to the city that I've met are ever interested in sending their kids to charters, and I'd bet anything that the long waiting lists for many of them are filled with local black and Latino families who've lived in the city for years. As to private schools, they'll always remain an option for the wealthy, and a handful of new ones have popped up in the past few years in Manhattan. IDK about any new privates in the boroughs.
Of course there will always be a good number of folks who pick up and move to the burbs when they have kids. No argument there. But I think people underestimate the number of parents who are choosing to stay in the city and fight to raise their kids in the public schools. Those who do will change the schools in those neighborhoods as they've done in parts of Brooklyn, as I mentioned, and in other parts of the city too. There was a time when nobody on the Upper West Side would send their kids to public schools here. But that changed as the neighborhood became wealthier, even with many poor kids around from the likes of the Amsterdam and Frederick Douglass Houses, both huge projects on the UWS.
But this change will definitely take time. Like I say, better schools are the last big change in a gentrifying neighborhood and there are many parents who don't have the time, energy, or desire to make it happen faster, or just don't want to stick around until it does.
Their are studies, stories and investigations about affluent white families who live in gentry neigborhoods and the types of schools they desire. Like in Chicago to keep affluent people in the city from moving to the suburbs, charter schools, magnet and private schools need to be created. Again its not going to take time. Also affluent parents like ghetto and hood parents work and often work long hours and at times might not be involved in their kids academic lives during school except for the nanny. It has even been noted that public schools in heavily gentrifying cites that have closed saw charter schools replace them.
Pretty much much this ^^....Especially for folks that make between 200k and 350k which is good enough for decent suburbs, but not enough for excellent private schools in the city. It's foolish to punish your children putting them in 95% of NYC schools when you can afford the high taxes.
I purchased a house in Northeast Queens and my son is less than 2 years old right now. Every few days I try to come up with additional reasons to leave. The elementary and middle schools are great by any standards where I live, but the prospect of going to high school here seems unfathomable to me especially considering the war on merit that the mayor is waging. I myself grew up in NYC, and to have my kids go through the same garbage high schools that I went through makes me feel that I've accomplished nothing.
I agree here. I too grew up here and I don't want to put my offspring's through the same hula-hoop that I went through attending k-12 public school nightmare in the city. The big problem with public school here in the city vs suburban schools and private schools is about primarily poor parental involvement in the school and in their children's lively hood. Here in NYC most of the children who attend public school come from family that do not have a family unit, where a single parent is the head of the household and has to work and does not have any supervision or guidance for their children's future.
Last edited by Bronxguyanese; 03-13-2015 at 08:09 PM..
Pretty much much this ^^....Especially for folks that make between 200k and 350k which is good enough for decent suburbs, but not enough for excellent private schools in the city. It's foolish to punish your children putting them in 95% of NYC schools when you can afford the high taxes.
I purchased a house in Northeast Queens and my son is less than 2 years old right now. Every few days I try to come up with additional reasons to leave. The elementary and middle schools are great by any standards where I live, but the prospect of going to high school here seems unfathomable to me especially considering the war on merit that the mayor is waging. I myself grew up in NYC, and to have my kids go through the same garbage high schools that I went through makes me feel that I've accomplished nothing.
I will most likely be renting out our place in the city and moving to the suburbs when we have kids. We will probably return to the city once the kids are in college. Most of my family prefers the suburbs as a safe and controlled environment to raise kids. In addition the housing stock in the suburbs is better to support a big family (6-10 people with grand parents) compared to the city.
We might also consider sending our children to china for primary schooling as we feel America really lacks in mathematics. In addition, we hope our children become fluent in mandarin, English, and Spanish as to give them more options in the future. America only competitive advantage in education is really at the university level (develop critical thinking skills). With globalization and advancement in technology I think it important to consider the global landscape rather than just focus domestically.
I think you underestimate yourself. Whichever "garbage" high school you attended a generation ago was obviously good enough for you to attain a decent job and raise your family in a nice neighborhood. But the point is that the strength of NYC high schools is that the situation used to be a handful of very good high schools, like the specialized high schools, a few decent zoned ones, and after that the quality just took a nosedive. That's just no longer true. There are many more high schools now (though certainly not enough) that adequately cater to kids who aren't tippy-top, like at Bronx Science, but also can't be in the disaster zones like Murray Bergtraum, Boys & Girls High, or the old Washington Irving near Union Square. The "middle ground" which can often offer kids an education as strong as most suburban schools, is growing and IMO will continue to do so.
I'd never tell someone don't leave the city for better schools. I understand that getting into a good high school here, with the tests, interviews, portfolios, ranking of choices, etc etc etc can be nerve-wracking for even very smart kids. It's a lot easier when you can move to the burbs and just enroll in high school like most people in America do. So Id never recommend for anyone to stay here if they chose that route. There are loads of reasons to move out the city even without considering the schools. But I' would be sure to be sure of all the options here before I left.
And FYI: Franklin K Lane is closed.
Edit: Oh, sorry. I see now that Super Mario posted about Lane, not you.
It's all about odds. I kinda see myself as an outlier rather than the norm. When I started my first decent paying job I was kinda surprised that of all the young people I was the only one that actually grew up in NYC. But I'll give it to you that of all the people that I know most people that did what they were suppose to do and were moderately smart turned out okay some better than others of course. Though I still feel that those people would have done even better if they went to better schools with like minded peers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bronxguyanese
I agree here. I too grew up here and I don't want to put my offspring's through the same hula-hoop that I went through attending k-12 public school nightmare in the city. The big problem with public school here in the city vs suburban schools and private schools is about primarily poor parental involvement in the school and in their children's lively hood. Here in NYC most of the children who attend public school come from family that do not have a family unit, where a single parent is the head of the household and has to work and does not have any supervision or guidance for their children's future.
I wouldn't want my kids to be hanging out with the same type of people I hung out with back in the day. Coming from a poor and single parent household myself I was a big screw up back in high school. Cut so many classes they gave up sending home those stupid cut cards. But I was one of the lucky ones who was able to pick things right back up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NYer23
I will most likely be renting out our place in the city and moving to the suburbs when we have kids. We will probably return to the city once the kids are in college. Most of my family prefers the suburbs as a safe and controlled environment to raise kids. In addition the housing stock in the suburbs is better to support a big family (6-10 people with grand parents) compared to the city.
We might also consider sending our children to china for primary schooling as we feel America really lacks in mathematics. In addition, we hope our children become fluent in mandarin, English, and Spanish as to give them more options in the future. America only competitive advantage in education is really at the university level (develop critical thinking skills). With globalization and advancement in technology I think it important to consider the global landscape rather than just focus domestically.
I'm contemplating that myself, but for me it seems like it may make sense to stay another 10 years or so until it's almost time for high school. Where I live now sorta has a suburban feel to it.
As for the mathematics, I feel that I have a good enough grasps of mathematics to help my kids supplement whatever they learn in school. As long as you have a good foundation in math, you can find and learn most of what you need to teach your kids off the internet. The only thing that may hold your kids back is the availability of advance placement courses in NYC public schools other than the specialized HS.
The school was administered by the New York City Department of Education as H.S. 420. Today the school is the campus site for five different high schools: The Academy of Innovative Technology, The Brooklyn Lab School, Cypress Hill Prep Academy, The Urban Assembly School for Collaborative Healthcare, and Multicultural High School.
The real question is whether anything has changed at the Lane "campus" other than the name(s). It's a matter of semantics but when I hear something closed I expect it to be no longer in business. The building is still in use, most likely the same students are attending the "new" five schools that would have attended Lane, and I would also guess many of the same teachers are in the new Lane schools although I don't know that for sure. I did see a rating of high schools in the newspaper a year or so ago and several of the new Lane campus schools were at the bottom of the list. It seems more like a rebranding of the school than a fundamental change in the quality of the education.
The real question is whether anything has changed at the Lane "campus" other than the name(s). It's a matter of semantics but when I hear something closed I expect it to be no longer in business. The building is still in use, most likely the same students are attending the "new" five schools that would have attended Lane, and I would also guess many of the same teachers are in the new Lane schools although I don't know that for sure. I did see a rating of high schools in the newspaper a year or so ago and several of the new Lane campus schools were at the bottom of the list. It seems more like a rebranding of the school than a fundamental change in the quality of the education.
All the sports teams for NYC public high schools still play under the old school names. They can chop it up into 100 different high schools, it will always be Far Rockaway High School to me (my alma mater).
__________________
"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
Don't know, but they had a fantastic football team when I was playing.
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