Newbie who loves DC

[vanyali]

Originally Posted by dcsfanatic

Bethesda is great, assuming you're rich!

I'm seeing houses right in the downtown part of Bethesda in the $600k's and $700k's. They old and small, but hey, they're houses. That doesn't sound too bad to me.

[Bluefly]

Main reason public schools fight charter schools is because of the union - charter schools can operate outside the often overwhelming demands of unions. I don't know specifically about DC, but that is the national trend.

Also - my girlfriend had an interesting experience. She went from teaching children in one of the wealthiest, most elite private schools in DC, then transferred to a program focused on the most disenfranchised, poorest children in DC. These kids had seen their parents gunned down, had been sexually abused at like 2 years old... horrible stuff.

Even stranger, the dynamics manifest in those poor students and the rich students (whose parents had all but abandoned them for their careers) were strikingly similar. Both groups had the same fundamental psychological issues.

[vanyali]

Originally Posted by Bluefly

Main reason public schools fight charter schools is because of the union - charter schools can operate outside the often overwhelming demands of unions. I don't know specifically about DC, but that is the national trend.

Also - my girlfriend had an interesting experience. She went from teaching children in one of the wealthiest, most elite private schools in DC, then transferred to a program focused on the most disenfranchised, poorest children in DC. These kids had seen their parents gunned down, had been sexually abused at like 2 years old... horrible stuff.

Even stranger, the dynamics manifest in those poor students and the rich students (whose parents had all but abandoned them for their careers) were strikingly similar. Both groups had the same fundamental psychological issues.

You can't leave it at that -- tell us more! I've heard things like that before, but no one ever bothers to go into details.

[doublee]

Hi There are a few good public elem schools in dc so if your kids are young and you are willing to move again in 10 years you could live in the city - Lafayette school, key, murch and mann to name a few. (Granted the homes are expensive and you have to settle for perhaps three beds, one bath and old and outdated and 1700 sq feet) but there are pros and cons to everything. We are living in dc till our kids are out of elementary school and then will likely move to bethesda as it has good public hs.

You have to have enough money to afford a house here - but if you have say 650 or more you can probably find something as long as your standards aren't too high. Its all a compromise but we have been very happy with our decision - sure our kitchen is outdated and our yard is tiny....but we still like it better than a 2 hour commute!