Sky high real estate prices in "good" school districts (Eureka: credit, house)

[btrflymama]

Originally Posted by Mach50

I have a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and a M.S. in Computer Science went to inner city schools, now work in Silicon Valley. I traveled the world with my parents at a young age and it really helped my maturity and understanding of the world.

We have different models for life. Good luck with yours.

Question.... were you hired because of your education or your travelling experience? My guess is your employer was interested in your degrees, not your passport resume. If you can travel, fantastic! I love to travel and find it teaches me a lot. But travel withOUT education doesn't get you anywhere. Sorry!

[fizbin]

Originally Posted by jzt83

Seriously though, I just think the disparity of quality between school districts in CA, esp the Bay Area and even LA to a greater extent, is not fair to the children and is appalling.

No argument there.

[Mach50]

Originally Posted by btrflymama

Question.... were you hired because of your education or your travelling experience? My guess is your employer was interested in your degrees, not your passport resume. If you can travel, fantastic! I love to travel and find it teaches me a lot. But travel withOUT education doesn't get you anywhere. Sorry!

You missed the point, it helps your child grow. Good Luck in the race.

[jzt83]

Originally Posted by btrflymama

You seem to be saying a few things here. You seem to imply that those of us who spend a lot of money on homes in areas with top schools aren't being responsible. Assuming I have this correct, I want to know how you can possibly think that? If you have kids, chances are you want what's best for them in life and providing my children with a quality education is one way I can equip them with the skills necessary to succeed in life. My husband and I make sure we live within our means every month and have no debt (other than mortgage debt) so that we are not putting our family's well-being in jeopardy. How could this possible be considered irresponsible?

You then go on to complain that the disparity is not fair. Perhaps. Life is not fair. Look throughout America. There's disparity everywhere on many levels. You can't escape it. Is it "appalling"? I kind of don't think so. It's reality. It's unfortunate, but that just means some of us choose to work harder to make it work so our kids are on the winning end of this disparity.

I just think there comes a time when homes become so astronomically and ridiculously expensive to comedic level that it doesn't justify the price tag. The hours of work involve to procure such properties is a waste of time and energy that could be better utilized. Such people who buy such homes are "paying too much for their whistles" as Ben Franklin would say to those who overvalued things. This is just my opinion. I don't have kids, but if I did, I wouldn't want to even raise them in the US, perhaps not even this world.

Yes life is not fair esp in CA. It will worsen. It didn't and doesn't have to be that way, but whatever. I always thought of CA as the "me first and screw everyone else" state. Also, in this economy (which I predict will worsen and/or will become the new baseline), a college degree is worthless save for a few professional degrees. Most people would be better off learning practical skills such as permaculture and other skills that could produce things that could be bartered and used with minimal need to participate in the cash economy.

[jzt83]

Originally Posted by btrflymama

Question.... were you hired because of your education or your travelling experience? My guess is your employer was interested in your degrees, not your passport resume. If you can travel, fantastic! I love to travel and find it teaches me a lot. But travel withOUT education doesn't get you anywhere. Sorry!

yes, education is the end all and be all of life. not really. We all value things differently. But from my perspective, traveling is a form of education. Education doesn't have to be confined to the standardized and institutionalized form that you seem to feel is essential in life. Of course many employers have minimum requirements that often require a college degree, but as the economy contracts , college degrees will lose their value over time.

[btrflymama]

"College degrees will lose their value over time."

If you say so

[btrflymama]

Originally Posted by Mach50

You missed the point, it helps your child grow. Good Luck in the race.

And you obviously missed my statement that I agree travel is wonderful. I can assure you I do plenty to help my children grow, in addition to putting them into great schools. My approach to parenting is more balanced than I think you realize.

And good luck to you!

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by fizbin

Of course any normal parent would be proud that their kid got into Stanford or Yale, but you say it like it is some dirty thing. The fact is that kids who go to those schools will make connections that will give them a big leg up for the rest of their lives. And the fact is that there is a much higher percentage of kids coming out of the Piedmont school district getting into those schools than there is from the Oakland school district. Any parent who gives a rats butt about their kids would be negligent if they did not get their kids out of crappy schools if they could afford to.

why would you make a statement like that??? My only point, most kids are not going to even apply at these schools, most kids will end up somewhere is the University sytem or state school system..I have always said, demending on your major, most any college will be quite acceptable. I guess you haven't been reading this board much...

Two of my daughters best friends went to Stanford (I might mention the graduated from Eureka High school, certainly not a top teir school) and by husbands two best friends went to Stanford...Our son's best friend went to MIT, again did not graduate from a top ranked school, but it was a very good one. (In VA)

We are not talking about getting kids out of a crappy school district(again read what I have written) we are talking about parents that put themselves into debt just to get their kids into the best school districts available and do this as a static symbol. We have friends who did just that and it backfired badly for them. Two couples we were and are still good friends with choose to move into neighborhoods simply for the schools (neither case was it a status thing as much as wanting what they thought was best for the kids) well, one couple ended up with kids that could not even keep up with the others, socially, financually or academically. The other couples daughter rebelled, mainly because she felt she didn't have all the advantages the other girls did..Mommy and daddy couldn't afford to buy her a new car for her 16th birthday, mommy did her own housework, didn't have hired help, they couldn't go on luxury vacations every year.

I think we all want what is best for our kids, but quite often we misjudge what that is...again, I am not talking about taking a kid out of a ghetto school and finding a little better situation, I am talking about thinking the school district is the most important thing in the world. It is not...At least in my view and that is all we have to judge this on, our opinions..Your opinion is no more right than mine and mine no more right than yours..

Why do you think it is so important for your child to get into Yale or Penn State or Stanford??

Nita

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by btrflymama

Agreed! I think what's going on here is there are people who cannot afford these areas and they are bitter and resentful. So, to pad their egos and wipe their tears they look for ways to passively insult those of us who have worked hard to save our money to buy in these areas. To say that top schools don't matter for a kid's future is ridiculous. And I bet that if these people could afford these areas, they would buy here in a heartbeat!

obviously I am not one that is bitter, my kids are out of school and my 2 older grandchildren could afford almost any college they wanted, they both got part to almost full scholarships and yes, went to a very good high school. I certainly am not saying there is anything wrong with doing what you can for your children, it is when you sacrafice everything to put your kids in the best public school system with the dream of them going to a top university it can become a serious problem. If indeed you have worked and saved to put your kids in a top school system and can easily afford it, that is great. I will still say, depending on what he/she is planning to do with their life, most do not need to go to a top notch college to be successful and money will not buy them happiness. It can help, but there are many things that bring us happiness.

Nita

[btrflymama]

Originally Posted by nmnita

obviously I am not one that is bitter, my kids are out of school and my 2 older grandchildren could afford almost any college they wanted, they both got part to almost full scholarships and yes, went to a very good high school. I certainly am not saying there is anything wrong with doing what you can for your children, it is when you sacrafice everything to do this or you become arragant bores for putting your kids in the top schools it becomes a questionable decision. As for getting into the top colleges to assure your chils; future, I will say again, it depends on the their choice of careers as to how important it is to go to a top school.. By the way, in case you didn't know this, money and success does not buy class or happiness.

Nita

Oh my.... what a morally superior post. Rest assured there are plenty of us who are living well within our means and fortunately are able to afford expensive areas that have top schools. We are not sacrificing everything! I don't think anyone on this thread said that their children MUST attend Stanford or an Ivy League school. Rather, I think many of us want to give our children any opportunity we can provide for them, and one of those opportunities is a top-quality education. Does this make me arrogant? I certainly do not think so. I am simply doing what I feel is best for my kids and fortunately I have the means to do it. But obviously there are many other things that fall under the umbrella of "doing what's best for kids." But to imply that those of us who pay a lot of money to live in top school districts are being foolish, irresponsible, and are sending immoral messages to our children is absurd.

And Nita.... yes, I am well aware that money and success do not buy happiness. Thank you for bringing that to my attention That said, money is what can give people the ability to make CHOICES in life and it's those CHOICES that bring happiness, not the money itself. All I could ever want for my 3 kids is for them to have a CHOICE about what to do in life. And while I'd love to converse philosophically here and say that money doesn't matter, the REALITY of our world is it costs money to live decently and obtaining a job usually requires at least some education. I am not here to say it SHOULD be this way. I am here to say it IS this way.

I could care less if my kids go to a top university. What matters to me is that they are surrounded by intelligent and motivated minds, that they develop a strong & focused work ethic, and that they come to learn that anything is possible in life if they try hard and never give up. I want them to see what excellence looks like and I'd love for them to strive for that (even if they don't attain it). I also want my kids to understand that a quality education is the ticket to many wonderful things in life and that the world can be your oyster if you prepare yourself properly to compete in today's society. If all of these hopes and dreams for my kids make me an ill-fit parent, so be it.