[MrGompers]

Originally Posted by CTartist

I have a question for some people on here. Why would you want to live in town/area where the property taxes are so low the residents can't possibly care about the quality of education? Let's face it....if the residents of those towns don't care about education for their children they probably don't have a high level of educational attainment either and that in turn goes into the quality of a town.

Because they got theirs already, and forget about any one else. These people are just tax dodgers with nice teeth. Also, the places these refugees are fleeing too are not poor. Not once have I heard of someone here moving to Youngstown, OH -Gary, IN, - or Nogales, AZ.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by MrGompers

Because they got theirs already, and forget about any one else. These people are just tax dodgers with nice teeth. Also, the places these refugees are fleeing too are not poor. Not once have I heard of someone here moving to Youngstown, OH -Gary, IN, - or Nogales, AZ.

Huh? Those people paid Connecticut taxes for decades and propped up the rest of the state.

[rubygreta]

Nobody would be moving to South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida if they had similar weather as Connecticut. The lower real estate taxes and house prices are an added kicker.

And as a prior poster said, if you're moving from somewhere like Trumbull, the costs down south are not that much cheaper.

New Hampshire is cheap and beautiful. Anyone retiring to New Hampshire?

[Scottamemnon]

Money spent on education and quality of education are not the same thing. If that was the case Bridgeport, CT and Washington, DC would be some of the pinnicles of education, and all their kids would go to ivy league schools.

There is a lot more that goes into it, there are terrible school and great schools in every state.

The biggest issue I have with the schools in New England is the fact that they are not changing with the times, except in the rough areas. The STEM facilities and education just isn't there.

If you are curious why I say this.. take a look at the schools in Texas as a good example, in a great school system like Frisco, or even a mega-district like Cypress-Fairbanks. Look at what their students can get for special training and the facilities that are available to them. Also things like Honors, IB, and Dual Credit are more common down south than they are up here. I have a friend in the Houston area whose daughter just graduated High School and went right into Junior year of college because of all of the dual credit courses she took.

I frequently consider moving back there since even with a normal salary I can afford to live in their affluent suburbs and send my children to brand new schools.

[BPt111]

Originally Posted by rubygreta

Nobody would be moving to South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida if they had similar weather as Connecticut. The lower real estate taxes and house prices are an added kicker.

And as a prior poster said, if you're moving from somewhere like Trumbull, the costs down south are not that much cheaper.

New Hampshire is cheap and beautiful. Anyone retiring to New Hampshire?

New Hampshire is boring but atleast you have Boston.

[BPt111]

Connecticut is not bad place to live to honest it just taxes and economy growth is the problem which ties back to government. You can be in NYC, Jersey Shore, Center City Philly, Hiking in Upstate New York, Vermont, CT shoreline and parks, Cape Cod, Boston etc. New Haven has pontenial because of Yale, train connections, pizza, East Rock, Wooster Square, East Rock park

[ryanthegoldengod]

Originally Posted by rubygreta

Nobody would be moving to South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida if they had similar weather as Connecticut. The lower real estate taxes and house prices are an added kicker.

And as a prior poster said, if you're moving from somewhere like Trumbull, the costs down south are not that much cheaper.

New Hampshire is cheap and beautiful. Anyone retiring to New Hampshire?

Agree 100 percent about the weather. People who enjoy the narrative that the rich are fleeing CT's tax oppression like to overlook the weather. If I won Powerball tomorrow, I would "flee" Connecticut the day after tomorrow for Florida. Or California. And it would have nothing to do with taxes.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Scottamemnon

Money spent on education and quality of education are not the same thing. If that was the case Bridgeport, CT and Washington, DC would be some of the pinnicles of education, and all their kids would go to ivy league schools.

There is a lot more that goes into it, there are terrible school and great schools in every state.

The biggest issue I have with the schools in New England is the fact that they are not changing with the times, except in the rough areas. The STEM facilities and education just isn't there.

If you are curious why I say this.. take a look at the schools in Texas as a good example, in a great school system like Frisco, or even a mega-district like Cypress-Fairbanks. Look at what their students can get for special training and the facilities that are available to them. Also things like Honors, IB, and Dual Credit are more common down south than they are up here. I have a friend in the Houston area whose daughter just graduated High School and went right into Junior year of college because of all of the dual credit courses she took.

I frequently consider moving back there since even with a normal salary I can afford to live in their affluent suburbs and send my children to brand new schools.

Texas does have some very good schools but you will find that the communities that have them are just as pricey to live in as towns here in Connecticut. Those Texas towns are generally few and far between and the exception rather than the rule. We are talking overall education across the state and not specific town to town comparisons here. How do the towns you mention compare with schools in Ridgefield, Westport, Darien, Simsbury, Glastonbury etc.?

The reason you do not see a lot of specialized curriculum schools in the northeast is because you do not need them. Most communities here offer extensive programs geared to STEM so there is no real need to have a special school. And the northeast (New England in particular) has long been the leader in education in the nation. Talk to any college recruiter and they will confirm this. They know the quality of education system potential students are coming from and take that into account in their evaluation of college applications.

Schools here also offer classes that get students college credits. I do find it highly unlikely that your friends child got two full years of college credit in high school. I would question whether those credits would even be accepted when they transfer to a university outside the one the high school is tied to.

Finally I will say the age of the school building has nothing to do with the quality of education offered. Just because the school is shinny and new does not mean it is good. Not all schools in Texas are new and conversely not all schools here are old. Also just because our school buildings are older does not mean they are no good. Most towns I know here have older schools but they are well maintained and that is just as important. Jay

[Stepfordct]

Originally Posted by BPt111

New Hampshire is boring but atleast you have Boston.

New Hampshire's economy by comparison is on fire!
Let's see no income tax. Not sure you can exactly live free there.....
Lot of folks working in Boston commute.

[AK-Cathy]

I'm thinking the CT weather sounds just fine and dandy but that's after living for 35 yrs in AK and now 6 years in KS where it's either h.o.t or freezing (sometimes in the same day) and rarely in-between with wind, lots of wind. I'm practically giddy i anticipation. CA, FL, AZ, TX? Too darned hot. Summers are a sauna. The only warm place I'd consider is Hawaii, maybe northern CA. We thought about it but wanted 4 seasons.