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So, Shadyside isn't on the list even though it is a few blocks away.
No, not as far as I can tell (my second link above gives the full DoE list if anyone wants to double-check).
Who knows why? The school admin just decided not to apply, maybe? The main eligibility requirement is to be a non-profit 501(c)3 entity, which you'd think Shadyside Academy would be, but perhaps not - is SA run for profit maybe?
But in any case, SA might not be all that interesting to the typical OTSC applicant: tuition is $19K for grades 2-5, which means anyone making use of the OTSC will still need to come up with about $10K on their own. Since the OTSC is limited to $84K (family of 4), and in practice likely to attract households with income closer to $45-70 range, an extra $10K could be a real stretch. So perhaps SA's admin just decided it wasn't worth the bother?
That's funny. So now members of the Wilkinsburg community have good reason to make sure that their local school do not improve (so they can retain their $8.5K scholarships)... nice.
I suppose there is some kind of perverse incentive there, but for the logic to hold you'd have to assume a) that any Wilkinsburg resident or group of residents has any real chance of causing improvement in the local school, and b) that if improvement were possible people would prefer the alternatives to a good local school.
The latter may be debatable, since it depends to some degree on personal preference, but the former seems fairly conclusively proven by more than 30 years' futile attempts by residents to improve the quality of WSD schools.
The broader politico-philosopical question, implied in your remark, is whether a voucher program is preferable to reformed public education capable of delivering an acceptable education to students. I'd say no, it's not. But both at the local and state level, the political and education leadership has not chosen reform as a serious option.
And if the OTSC benefits middle-class families, it also encourages them to move to areas like Wilkinsburg, which if it promotes and accelerates redevelopment is a good thing for both those areas specifically and the wider region in general.
Further, and perhaps most importantly, it's obviously not just middle-class families who are eligible or will benefit from OTSC. There is a question of social and racial justice involved in providing families, which otherwise have no alternative, some access to schools better than what's on offer in zombie districts like Wilkinsburg.
Edit: An additional point: if residents do have some perverse incentive for keeping the local schools from improving (and again, the logic is not strong), the school district itself has much greater incentive to improve its schools rather than lose yet more students, especially in a district like WSD which barely has enough students to be viable as it is. Whatever principled objections one may have against school vouchers, almost everyone will agree that providing such strong incentive for failing schools to improve is a public policy win.
Thanks for all of your responses. They have been very information.
Here's our situation. My husband is a professor. I'm a special ed teacher, currently debating if I want to continue working in this field. We are moving to Pittsburgh from Brooklyn, NY and have a very teeny budget with which to buy a house. We want to be in the city, in a walkable area, where we don't have to drive much. I have a 3 year old, so high school is a ways away, but this is the first time I've had to consider schools when finding a place to live. As a former teacher, I am a public school advocate and, honestly, I don't want to pay for private school. Of course, I want my daughter to have a great education, but being born into a highly educated, white middle class family will take care of most of that. I'm privileged to say, I just want my daughter to be happy at the schools she goes to. (I've been following the magnet school thread with great interest). Anyway, there is a lot to think about. Anyone want to sell us a 2 bedroom townhouse in squirrel hill for 100k? That should solve our problems right there!
Consider Greenfield as an option. Greenfield elementary (now K-8) does fairly well and out performs Minadeo. I am uncertain if you can find a 100k house but you will have a better shot in that area.
Edit: An additional point: if residents do have some perverse incentive for keeping the local schools from improving (and again, the logic is not strong), the school district itself has much greater incentive to improve its schools rather than lose yet more students, especially in a district like WSD which barely has enough students to be viable as it is. Whatever principled objections one may have against school vouchers, almost everyone will agree that providing such strong incentive for failing schools to improve is a public policy win.
I'm not convinced it is a win. It is an incentive for involved parents to remove their kids from the district, leaving the district with a set of needy kids who likely do not have parental support. That becomes a very difficult problem for the WSD admins and staff to solve (no matter what the incentive). Vouchers are not going to solve this problem.
Anyone want to sell us a 2 bedroom townhouse in squirrel hill for 100k? That should solve our problems right there!
There's a house on Saline Street asking $115k and it has been on the market for a while. I'm not sure why it hasn't sold (dated kitchen and no off-street parking are clearly part of it), but you may want to take a look. It's past the area of Squirrel Hill that most people consider easily walkable, but a very good run by bus into Oakland.
I'm not convinced it is a win. It is an incentive for involved parents to remove their kids from the district, leaving the district with a set of needy kids who likely do not have parental support. That becomes a very difficult problem for the WSD admins and staff to solve (no matter what the incentive). Vouchers are not going to solve this problem.
As I've written here before, the "solution" which Pennsylvania has adopted by default is to let zombie districts like WSD or Duquesne or StoRox simply rot away. If you're leading a legislative or political effort to adopt a different and better solution, then my hat is off to you and I wish you the best of luck.
In the meantime, while I completely understand your point that removing the best students is problematic, the reality in districts like Wilkinsburg is well past the point where involved parents might be induced to keep their kids in the district's schools. At least a third of the student-age population of the borough of Wilkinsburg is not in WSD schools and won't ever be coming back, because none of those parents will voluntarily sacrifice their children's future for the nebulous and remote chance that those schools might just improve. When and if the WSD board and administration abides by the law and advertises the OSTC by mailing informational letters [pdf] about the program to all residents (I have yet to receive mine in the mail), then that proportion can be expected to increase substantially.
One might insist that it's theoretically possible to "rescue" WSD and districts in the same plight by re-incorporating those students now attending private, charter or home schools. One's children, however, are not a theoretical proposition. The reality is that WSD and similar zombie districts are doing no one any good at all and should be abolished, but the Gen Ass has chosen instead to let them slowly strangle to death, while providing alternatives to parents in those districts in the form of charter schools and, now, the OSTC.
You may not be convinced. You don't have to be. Both charters and the OSTC voucher are the law in Pennsylvania, and while, as a solution to the problem of failing public school districts, charters and vouchers may not be the ideal solution, they are providing a solution available to all.
And finally, to reiterate my original point, one perhaps unintended consequence of these laws is that Wilkinsburg in particular is now a much more feasible - even attractive - proposition for middle-class homebuyers interested in living in the East End than it has been for more than a generation. That alone is good news for every resident or prospective resident of the borough, and sufficient by itself to justify the voucher program in my view.
No, not as far as I can tell (my second link above gives the full DoE list if anyone wants to double-check).
Who knows why? The school admin just decided not to apply, maybe? The main eligibility requirement is to be a non-profit 501(c)3 entity, which you'd think Shadyside Academy would be, but perhaps not - is SA run for profit maybe?
But in any case, SA might not be all that interesting to the typical OTSC applicant: tuition is $19K for grades 2-5, which means anyone making use of the OTSC will still need to come up with about $10K on their own. Since the OTSC is limited to $84K (family of 4), and in practice likely to attract households with income closer to $45-70 range, an extra $10K could be a real stretch. So perhaps SA's admin just decided it wasn't worth the bother?
The question is whether or not the child would still be eligible for aid from the school if they got the state money. Shadyside actually gives a lot of aid. I would imagine you would get a ton of aid if you made 80,000 a year.
Thanks for all of your responses. They have been very information.
Here's our situation. My husband is a professor. I'm a special ed teacher, currently debating if I want to continue working in this field. We are moving to Pittsburgh from Brooklyn, NY and have a very teeny budget with which to buy a house. We want to be in the city, in a walkable area, where we don't have to drive much. I have a 3 year old, so high school is a ways away, but this is the first time I've had to consider schools when finding a place to live. As a former teacher, I am a public school advocate and, honestly, I don't want to pay for private school. Of course, I want my daughter to have a great education, but being born into a highly educated, white middle class family will take care of most of that. I'm privileged to say, I just want my daughter to be happy at the schools she goes to. (I've been following the magnet school thread with great interest). Anyway, there is a lot to think about. Anyone want to sell us a 2 bedroom townhouse in squirrel hill for 100k? That should solve our problems right there!
It's generally very expensive to buy within the Allderdice feeder pattern. Some things come up in the following areas however:
North Point Breeze - Cheaper because it's a mostly black neighborhood across the tracks from the worst ghetto in Pittsburgh, but actually pretty safe. There's one house in your price range on the market now.
If you're willing to move into a condo, occasionally things open up in Shadyside and Squirrel Hill within your price range. They will be small, and most people wouldn't want to raise a family in a place like that, but since you're from New York, you may be used to cramped living. You probably don't want to get a condo in North Oakland, however, as that's in a different feeder zone.
As others have said, Greenfield is an okay option in terms of local schools, and certainly would have houses within your price range. The neighborhood is rather suburban in character and many of the houses are kind of ugly, which are the main drawbacks. South Oakland shares local schools with Greenfield, and there's a few things on the market there as well. and it's in a lot of ways a more convenient and urban area, despite having some minor crime and nuisance student issues.
Finally, you might like Swisshelm Park. It's very suburban in character however, albeit mostly in pre-1950s styles, and a bit isolated from the rest of the city, with only one road connecting it to Squirrel Hill. It's not that far from Regent Square actually, although it's on the far side of the highway. AFAIK, there are no trails to Frick Park from Swisshelm Park either, so despite being right next to the park, you'll have to drive to enjoy it.
Thanks for all of your responses. They have been very information.
Here's our situation. My husband is a professor. I'm a special ed teacher, currently debating if I want to continue working in this field. We are moving to Pittsburgh from Brooklyn, NY and have a very teeny budget with which to buy a house. We want to be in the city, in a walkable area, where we don't have to drive much. I have a 3 year old, so high school is a ways away, but this is the first time I've had to consider schools when finding a place to live. As a former teacher, I am a public school advocate and, honestly, I don't want to pay for private school. Of course, I want my daughter to have a great education, but being born into a highly educated, white middle class family will take care of most of that. I'm privileged to say, I just want my daughter to be happy at the schools she goes to. (I've been following the magnet school thread with great interest). Anyway, there is a lot to think about. Anyone want to sell us a 2 bedroom townhouse in squirrel hill for 100k? That should solve our problems right there!
I don't want to discourage you but it is going to be hard to find a townhouse for 100,000 in Sq. Hill. When I got married 8 years ago we looked in parts of the East End but we couldn't afford much. Frankly, we only would consider Shadyside, South Point Breeze and the walkable part of Sq. Hill. Our budget was around yours initially but we eventually realized that we needed to spend more. Not sure if you can swing it but if your budget gets close to 130-140,000 you will have options in other parts of the East End (Highland Park and Morningside) that are still sort of walkable. The downside is that you are probably stuck with magnets.
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