Mexican War Streets/Allegheny West family friendly? (Pittsburgh, Baldwin: low income, houses)

[Aqua Teen Carl]

"Let's uproot our life and plop down thousands and thousands on a new house and hope our kid doesn't go to a hell hole by literal luck of the draw" isn't a sound idea to many people.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

"Let's uproot our life and plop down thousands and thousands on a new house and hope our kid doesn't go to a hell hole by literal luck of the draw" isn't a sound idea to many people.

With the wide range of charters and magnets available, is there actually a realistic chance of not getting into one of them? Maybe not the first choice, but just getting into one period?

[Lobick]

Originally Posted by Retiredcoach

The quality of the public school education, however, is markedly behind that which is available in other areas of the city and county.

That doesn't really make any sense if you understand the number and variety of magnet and charter options available through PPS. Geography, within the city, doesn't have nearly the impact that it does in other districts, especially at the secondary level.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by ferraris

With the wide range of charters and magnets available, is there actually a realistic chance of not getting into one of them? Maybe not the first choice, but just getting into one period?

I'm not entirely sure to be honest, but if my peers are any indicator the chance that your kids going to a crap school is just not worth taking to a lot of people. Even the most devout city-lovers in my social circles left to go to the suburbs after they had kids due to the school situation alone. They didn't even want to bother with magnet/charter situations. I mean I can't say that I blame them.

[steindle]

[]

[steindle]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

I'm not entirely sure to be honest

Weirdly, that doesn't seem to stop you from asserting a very stridently anti-PPS opinion on here every time the topic is brought up. Your anecdotal friend evidence isn't really doing much for me in comparison to actual data and test results indicating that kids at Allegheny K-5 do just as well on standardized tests as kids in the vaunted East End schools. The fact that people are fleeing based on skewed perceptions isn't really indicative of anything real.

[Lobick]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

"Let's uproot our life and plop down thousands and thousands on a new house and hope our kid doesn't go to a hell hole by literal luck of the draw" isn't a sound idea to many people.

You could literally not alter that quote at all and apply it to any school district where there is no choice available on what school your kid attends.

Suggesting that you are the victim of the "luck of the draw" implies playing a passive role in your child's education.

The quality of schools should play a role in where a family decides to live but I'm personally of the opinion that they play an outsized role in too many people's decision. The fetishization of "good schools" then becomes a bit of a Ponzi scheme used to prop up housing prices and a group think sets in. Public schools, in my view, are seen much like Congress; people have disdain for the institution but by and large like their representative or their school.

My own personal view is that many parents who would prefer to live in the City, all things being equal, use the perceived quality (or lack thereof) of the City schools as a mental crutch they can lean on to justify the less than ideal circumstances they've placed themselves in by living elsewhere.

* Note, this is not a generalized swipe at Suburbia and those who genuinely enjoy residing there; to each their own.

[steindle]

In summary, I am 100% in agreement with Lobick, but I happen to be far more annoyingly obstreperous and emotional than him.

[robrobrob]

In my opinion the knock on the magnets is that they aren't neighborhood schools. I like that my kids go to school with almost every kid in the subdivision. A few go private or parochial but not many. I also don't think it is fair to constantly throw out CAPA as a viable alternative for every kid. I think its appeal, and it is a very nice school, is limited.

What is not mentioned about the burbs is that kids are able to play outside in their own yard or driveway. This isn't the case with many homes in the Mexican War Streets. For some this may not be a big deal but for others it is a big deal. For example, plenty of home buyers in the burbs are looking for a flat driveway and a flat yard for the kids to play.

Like I said in my earlier post a good friend of mine intends to at least initially give it a go and stay in the War Streets when they have a kid. So, I do think more people are open to staying put.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by Lobick

Suggesting that you are the victim of the "luck of the draw" implies playing a passive role in your child's education.

This was in reference to getting into magnet schools which is literally a lottery.

Originally Posted by steindle

Weirdly, that doesn't seem to stop you from asserting a very stridently anti-PPS opinion on here every time the topic is brought up. Your anecdotal friend evidence isn't really doing much for me in comparison to actual data and test results indicating that kids at Allegheny K-5 do just as well on standardized tests as kids in the vaunted East End schools. The fact that people are fleeing based on skewed perceptions isn't really indicative of anything real.

Oh?

Kindergarten enrollment drops 11.5 percent in Pittsburgh school district - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Brian O