Why are Eastchester taxes so high? (New Rochelle, White Plains: house, to buy, school district)

[aldersh]

After researching Eastchester and Scarsdale schools Im confused . Eastchester schools rank in the bottom quarter in SAT scores in Westchester County and have the most overassessed property and school taxes in the County. Shouldn't high taxes equate to high scores.What are they doing with the money.
I can see Scarsdale having high taxes because the schools rank almost top in the nation.
Any insights.
Im relocating from LA and am looking to buy in the 1.5million to 2 million range.

[rubygreta]

The schools are great (I live here) and the top students get into the best colleges. The taxes are no higher than most communities (with excpetions like White Plains, Rye, Armonk and Harrison). In some districts, like Pelham, the taxes are signficantly higher. The SAT scores are lower than Scarsdale because Scarsdale is just about uniformly affluent, while Eastchester has a large lower-middle class population.

My suggestion - move to Scarsdale.

[LisaZ]

I can't believe Eastchester ranks low in SAT's. It is considered a very good school system. Taxes all over Westchester county are high. 2/3rd's of the taxes go toward schools and a lot of those schools rank in the top 100 in the country.

[aldersh]

U cant believe it?
Its a fact

[LisaZ]

Originally Posted by aldersh

U cant believe it?
Its a fact

Regardless, if you know the town you know the school has a good reputation. Do you not know of Eastchester?

[rubygreta]

Hey Aldersh, the valedictorian at Eastchester last year went to Harvard. So if your kids are smart, they will do fine in Eastchester. Obviously, you have something against Eastchester. Please move somewhere else.

[ghguy]

rubygreta,

I think the poster's point is that, while taxes are similar in Scarsdale and Eastchester (for a comparable home), test scores are significantly higher in Scarsdale. I've read some of your previous posts about how Eastchester schools are excellent and the test scores being diluted by a "diverse" student body, but the bar is obviously higher where test scores are better. Of course, nobody wants their child to feel overly pressured, and I think that may be the case in Scarsdale, but generally speaking, the more classmates your child has that are better students, the more likely they are to be a better student also, no?

[rubygreta]

Originally Posted by ghguy

rubygreta,

I think the poster's point is that, while taxes are similar in Scarsdale and Eastchester (for a comparable home), test scores are significantly higher in Scarsdale. I've read some of your previous posts about how Eastchester schools are excellent and the test scores being diluted by a "diverse" student body, but the bar is obviously higher where test scores are better. Of course, nobody wants their child to feel overly pressured, and I think that may be the case in Scarsdale, but generally speaking, the more classmates your child has that are better students, the more likely they are to be a better student also, no?

No. Every child finds their niche. Look at the Ardsely school district, which is supposedly great. Let's say it is great. Have you been reading the papers? One thug and his band of followers have completely terrorized the middle school. You think every kid that goes to Scarsdale is hard working and angelic? I highly doubt it. Plenty of Scarsdale grads go to colleges that are not exactly hot. Why? Because some of the students don't care, and other just weren't born with great academic ability. It happens.

The bar is very high in Eastchester. Many honors and AP courses are offered. Do you think that smart and motivated kids in Eastchester are influenced by the slackers?

And by the way, the reason Scarsdale taxes are lower for the same house is because you have a lot of people in Scarsdale who pay $50,000, $75,000 and even over $100,000 in property taxes, which subsidizes everyone else.

[rubygreta]

Originally Posted by ghguy

rubygreta,

I think the poster's point is that, while taxes are similar in Scarsdale and Eastchester (for a comparable home), test scores are significantly higher in Scarsdale. I've read some of your previous posts about how Eastchester schools are excellent and the test scores being diluted by a "diverse" student body, but the bar is obviously higher where test scores are better. Of course, nobody wants their child to feel overly pressured, and I think that may be the case in Scarsdale, but generally speaking, the more classmates your child has that are better students, the more likely they are to be a better student also, no?

What about New Rochelle? Every year they send a bunch of kids to the best colleges. How can that be, with all those low-income kids from the projects and all the children of immigrants who only speak Spanish? You would think that with a signficant percentage of students who are not "better students" (your term), the district would be mired in failure. But it's not. Hmmmm.....

[ghguy]

rubygreta,

I think you miss my point. I don't doubt that several kids from the NR school system go to great colleges, but imagine how many more would if they had a system with many, many more kids who strive for excellence, raising the bar for all?