[HockeyMom72]

Originally Posted by headendtech

HELLO ALL,ok heres my story a while ago last year we decided to sell our home on long island and move to flordia,we even had our house almost sold and we backed out.im not sure if it was the right thing to do..i have a wife and 2 kids,i was just thinking the schools a better up here??and they might have a better life,im not sure if its the right descision.??the taxes and costs are killing us up here...though i have a pretty good job its tough..im very stressed over this and am hoping to get help ...thanks!!!!

I raised two daughters on LI (Smithtown). I have worked (Special Ed TA) in school districts on LI and here in Naples. If you want your children to get a better education, stay in New York.

[daniellefort]

Originally Posted by headendtech

yes we where looking in citurs springs fl. everything seem nice...the way long island used to be 20 yrs ago alot of open land,but heres my issue
moving my kids how that would affect them there only 7 and 5 but have lots of friends here and activities. i feel horrible moving them...

second i grew up here been here all my life scared to leave..

third ive been with my job for years but u never know..

reason why id like to leave
get away from my highhhhh taxes 10,000 a year,.
everything is very expensive here not like it used to be when i grew up..houses here that cost 40,000 are now worth 6-800k

I don't live too far from Citrus Springs. It may be a bit more rural now but it's changing quick. What about your job. you've been there 12 years and do you really want to start at the bottom again and can you even get a similar job here? I say stick it out someplace up north. Just because you want to move for cheaper living doesn't mean you have to move so far away. I'll tell you, your going to miss the 4 seasons of weather, you'll have to learn about hurricanes and how to prepare, insurance and taxes probably equal out to the $10,000 you pay up there, the schools are kind of blah, the beaches will get old real quick if that's not something your into very much and the killer summer heat is miserable. Yeah, i say stay up north especially if you've never lived anywhere else. Why change a good thing if all that's bothering you is the price of home and taxes. You can always downsize and reduce those fees somehow. Cost of living is going up everywhere not just NY. I too have only lived in 2 places. NH and FL and i can't wait to get back up north. I just compared my daughters school from high school here in FL to the high school in NH which is the same high school i graduated from in NH, she'll be in a school with 650 kids vs 1600 kids here and 18 students to 1 teacher vs 30 students to 1 teacher. Heck, some of the teachers in the NH high school are the same teachers i had 15 years ago so something good must be going on up there for them to stick it out so long.

[Momma_bear]

I grew up on LI (Holtsville) and I currently live in FL. When we moved from NY to FL we were living in Westchester County. In Westchester our taxes were $6K a year, our homoeowners was around $1000. In NY we paid state income tax, which we do not pay in FL.

One thing you should realize is that property taxes in FL are based on the purchase price of the home. Once you buy a house and you are homesteaded, your assessed value cannot increase more than 3% a year. So someone like me who paid $387K for my house currently pays $7K a year in property taxes, but my neighbor who bought this summer for $775K probably pays in excess of $15K per year. So when you househunt you need to figure your taxes will be roughly 2% of what you pay for the house (in Broward). This number varies from town to town, but 2% should get you close. Do NOT look at what the current homeowner is paying. That will NOT be what you pay.Homeowners in FL is VERY EXPENSIVE. We pay around $4K a year on a house that is relatively new (built 2000), and about 25 miles inland. Expect your homeowners to be in the multiple thousands of dollars a year, a HUGE DIFFERRENCE from what you will pay in NY.

Schools here are not as good as they are in NY. No matter what anyone who grew up here says they are not the same as they are in NY. We have opted for public until 5th grade and private afterwards. All in all, I like FL and I am glad we moved here. However, if you are looking to move here to save money, I think you will be unhappy with the results.

[LM1]

The schools in FL are grotesque compared to the Northeast.
An "A" school here- that everyone raves about as being just so wonderful, is a B- school there.
Due to a 'divorced parents' arrangement, I was able to experience this variance first hand, being educated in FL schools for part of my life, Minnesota schools for part of my life (which consistently rank in the top 3) and for a very brief time in my early 20's, serving as a teachers assistant in the northeast with the Americorps program.

The comparison between the "good schools" and "Florida schools" was terrifyingly stark.
The difference between the MN schools and the Northeast schools was noticeable, but as best I could tell, it wasn't anything worth packing up and moving over. The MN kids seemed a bit more "educated" in the formal sense while the Northeast kids seemed a bit more sophisticated in the ways of the world, so either-or definitely had its virtues. On the other hand, going from the Minnesota/Northeast schools to the Florida schools and experiencing the difference first-hand was like hopping into a spaceship and traveling to the Planet Dumbass.

I completely agree that primary education isn't the sole engine for individual success, but it does seriously increase ones chances in life- when they're given the proper tools to do well, they tend to stand a better chance of reaching their maximum inherent potential. In FL, the bar is set so low to accommodate certain folks who 'consistently fail to achieve' that everyone educated in the system pays a serious price and winds up a few yards behind the starting line once they turn 18 and real life begins.

[bcfarmlady]

Here Here !! very nicely stated. I gave you some Rep for that. My husband agrees.

He was educated all over the world, Navy Brat. I was educated in Mass. All our kids went to school here... and can we say... are not what they could be. We could not have stated it better. I especially like your statement about the spaceship to Planet Dumbass.

[markhunt]

Originally Posted by LM1

The schools in FL are grotesque compared to the Northeast.
An "A" school here- that everyone raves about as being just so wonderful, is a B- school there.
Due to a 'divorced parents' arrangement, I was able to experience this variance first hand, being educated in FL schools for part of my life, Minnesota schools for part of my life (which consistently rank in the top 3) and for a very brief time in my early 20's, serving as a teachers assistant in the northeast with the Americorps program.

The comparison between the "good schools" and "Florida schools" was terrifyingly stark.
The difference between the MN schools and the Northeast schools was noticeable, but as best I could tell, it wasn't anything worth packing up and moving over. The MN kids seemed a bit more "educated" in the formal sense while the Northeast kids seemed a bit more sophisticated in the ways of the world, so either-or definitely had its virtues. On the other hand, going from the Minnesota/Northeast schools to the Florida schools and experiencing the difference first-hand was like hopping into a spaceship and traveling to the Planet Dumbass.

I completely agree that primary education isn't the sole engine for individual success, but it does seriously increase ones chances in life- when they're given the proper tools to do well, they tend to stand a better chance of reaching their maximum inherent potential. In FL, the bar is set so low to accommodate certain folks who 'consistently fail to achieve' that everyone educated in the system pays a serious price and winds up a few yards behind the starting line once they turn 18 and real life begins.

Very well put. I grew up with the first half of my education attending Westchester county NY schools, and the 2nd half in Fairfield county CT. Needless to say i have a 2 year old and a 1 year old now here in FL and I will make sure we are back in New England before my oldest starts school.

I don't care how much more expensive it is in the Northeast as compared to here in FL, after all, my children are priceless to me.

[LM1]

Yeah, my significant other and I are seriously contemplating having children, but neither of us will consider- even for a split second- having them educated in FL. We've already scoped out the Chicagoland private schools where we wish for them to attend and have started funding the investment accounts to make it happen. Our careers transfer easily, so our present FL property will have to become a vacation rental, or something... I don't care how warm it is here in December, there is no way in hell I'm going to hamstring my kids for the rest of their lives by resigning their most formative, critical years to a grossly inferior system. They'll just have to learn how to wear a damn scarf and gloves in the winter while dad bites his lip and pays the higher taxes. The trade-off totally isn't worth it.

I would just as soon allow my children to to swim in a septic tank as I would allow them to attend Florida public schools.

[hiknapster]

Oh, no, no, no.

In Massachusetts, I tested in the 6th grade for first year college, compared to the rest of the country.

I was a foster kid, and moved 15 times in my freshmen year. Still, I am light-years away from my Southern counterparts.

My daughter was in Florida Kindergarten for six weeks. The teacher couldn't even teach the kids. She had half a class of kids that couldn't speak English and two kids that were such discipline problems that they consistently ended up in the Prinicipal's office. And we were in a NICE area.

We went up to Tennessee, by hook or by crook, but I am here to tell you, if you're kids are in Northeast schools, keep them there. They will thank you for it.

If I could afford to go back home, I would do it in a heartbeat.

You have twelve years invested in your company, but you want to relocate? Is it a transfer? Just some day-dreaming?

Have a cocktail and go to sleep. Spring will come soon enough.

[LM1]

I think this discussion really begs the question- ' Are Florida Schools *really* as bad as their detractors make them out to be?"

To people educated in similarly crappy systems and just don't know any better or to people who themselves don't value education much, then answer is no- FL schools probably aren't quite that bad. To people who have exposure to genuinely superior systems of primary education, the answer is yes, Florida really, really is that bad when it comes to early education.

The saddest part is, the kids in the Northeast or Minnesota aren't genetically smarter than the kids in Florida. Some of the brightest, sharpest, most situationally incisive people I've ever known are my dear old 'FL Native' buddies... and ya know where they are in life? One is working as a forklift operator, one is working for an insurance company, one is working for the city and the great "success" of the bunch is managing a hotel.

These are people who- had they been exposed to a better system of education and a broader, more nuanced spectrum of life- could've unquestionably been top performers. If they came from places that valued education and emphasized it's importance, there's no doubt they would've been doctors, lawyers, investors or whatever. But they didn't. They were born in, educated in, and will likely die in Florida. Had they experienced the educational opportunities I was able to enjoy elsewhere, they would've been totally different people. But they didn't.
They are what they've become because that's the culture here- sometimes, it's a culture I love.. I wouldn't have grown up riding horses and shooting guns as a kid in the Northeast. I did here and I loved every second of it. Still, I'm not going to lie to myself and say that education in FL is anywhere near par with the superior systems of the Northeast or the Upper Midwest. Compared to those places, the entire system is absolutely shameful.

[hiknapster]

And yet, I was born without all the advantages.

However, my Massachusetts grade-school education afforded me to be a newspaper reporter for ten years, the ability to think out-of-the-box, critical thinking, and to stay just one step ahead of the gaping jaws of economic demise.

It hasn't been easy, but I wasn't educated in Florida schools and that has been to my advantage.

Stay in Long Island.