Moving to indy from Florida

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by CarolinaHopefuls

The public schools are not better in IN. FL has some pockets of excellent districts but overall they are about the same. Indy is way more dismal

I would disagree.

IPS for the most part is pretty dismal as a large urban school district, although there are some jewels but they are the exception rather than the norm.

While I can't attest to all of the surrounding districts, I have (recent) direct experience with both Avon and Clark-Pleasant. Avon was top notch. And C-P not bad at all.

The big difference between Florida schools and Indiana schools is the size. In Florida, school districts are county-wide and not township sized. This makes many of them huge bureaucracies and often lacking in various areas due to the size and inability to provide services to individual students at the same levels you see in smaller township sized districts.

I was especially impressed with Avon's high school and the level of service and interaction between faculty and students. You won't see that in a Florida school.

In general I feel like the community at large has a much different attitude about schools and education in general in the Midwest compared to Florida. In Indiana there seems to be far more emphasis placed on education and excellence in the schools than there is in Florida.

RM

[Fl1150]

Originally Posted by MortonR

I would disagree.

IPS for the most part is pretty dismal as a large urban school district, although there are some jewels but they are the exception rather than the norm.

While I can't attest to all of the surrounding districts, I have (recent) direct experience with both Avon and Clark-Pleasant. Avon was top notch. And C-P not bad at all.

The big difference between Florida schools and Indiana schools is the size. In Florida, school districts are county-wide and not township sized. This makes many of them huge bureaucracies and often lacking in various areas due to the size and inability to provide services to individual students at the same levels you see in smaller township sized districts.

I was especially impressed with Avon's high school and the level of service and interaction between faculty and students. You won't see that in a Florida school.

In general I feel like the community at large has a much different attitude about schools and education in general in the Midwest compared to Florida. In Indiana there seems to be far more emphasis placed on education and excellence in the schools than there is in Florida.

RM

Source please ??? I highly doubt that you know that for a fact and considering the amount of transplants living in Florida from the north wouldn't think that would make a difference. Just saying you cant make assumptions like that and expect people to take you seriously. I actually agree with some of things you said however I don't like non factual statements being thrown around.

[Fl1150]

Originally Posted by Dyadic

Overall Florida has a very good school system. U.S. News ranks them #6 in the nation with 31 gold medal schools. Indiana only has 4.

Thank you for backing up your claim.

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by Fl1150

Source please ??? I highly doubt that you know that for a fact and considering the amount of transplants living in Florida from the north wouldn't think that would make a difference. Just saying you cant make assumptions like that and expect people to take you seriously. I actually agree with some of things you said however I don't like non factual statements being thrown around.

Source for what? I'm not sure what you're taking exception to, but....

I worked for 8 years in an administrative position in the 8th largest school district in the U.S. that happens to be in Florida. I have a sibling that has worked in both private and township school districts in the Indianapolis area for nearly 40 years.

You can look at studies like ALEC (Report Card on American Education - State Education Rankings) or the Economic Policy Institute (2015’s States with the Best and Worst School Systems | WalletHub®) among others that place Indiana above Florida in any number of areas pertaining to primary and secondary education. Jeb Bush got things off to a good start, then left, leaving the educational policies of the state in a shambles. Right now the standardized tests from the previous year are pretty much being scrapped due to their inadequacy and questionable relevance.

Those Northern transplants that you refer to are here and do have some influence on educational policy, but they're clustered in areas of relative affluence. Get out of the metropolitan areas in Florida and they have very little effect. Add to that the policies of Rick Scott, who took a Scott Walker approach to education and effectively defunded it for several years. The education community is still reeling from the effects of his policies.

The U.S. News studies regarding both primary and higher education have been questionable from the start, and many in academia have challenged their methods, along with entities like the Washington Post. It has been pointed out in several instances that the data they collect is self reported and not verified for accuracy, allowing many of those who do participate to "game" the system. For that matter what defines a "Gold Medal School"?

And in closing, I never stated that I was basing my comments on facts. The phrase, "I feel like..." is clearly an indicator of an opinion, which is exactly what it was. Opinions based on direct experience in these areas, I might add.

RM

[Dyadic]

Originally Posted by MortonR

Source for what? I'm not sure what you're taking exception to, but....

I worked for 8 years in an administrative position in the 8th largest school district in the U.S. that happens to be in Florida. I have a sibling that has worked in both private and township school districts in the Indianapolis area for nearly 40 years.

You can look at studies like ALEC (Report Card on American Education - State Education Rankings) or the Economic Policy Institute (2015’s States with the Best and Worst School Systems | WalletHub®) among others that place Indiana above Florida in any number of areas pertaining to primary and secondary education. Jeb Bush got things off to a good start, then left, leaving the educational policies of the state in a shambles. Right now the standardized tests from the previous year are pretty much being scrapped due to their inadequacy and questionable relevance.

Those Northern transplants that you refer to are here and do have some influence on educational policy, but they're clustered in areas of relative affluence. Get out of the metropolitan areas in Florida and they have very little effect. Add to that the policies of Rick Scott, who took a Scott Walker approach to education and effectively defunded it for several years. The education community is still reeling from the effects of his policies.

The U.S. News studies regarding both primary and higher education have been questionable from the start, and many in academia have challenged their methods, along with entities like the Washington Post. It has been pointed out in several instances that the data they collect is self reported and not verified for accuracy, allowing many of those who do participate to "game" the system. For that matter what defines a "Gold Medal School"?

And in closing, I never stated that I was basing my comments on facts. The phrase, "I feel like..." is clearly an indicator of an opinion, which is exactly what it was. Opinions based on direct experience in these areas, I might add.

RM

Interesting data. How did Florida's education system take a total nose dive in such a short period of time? They fell from #3: http://www.alec.org/docs/2010-report...ycondensed.pdf

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by McdonaldIndy

Any of the none IPS school districts are decent enough. Saying the Indy area schools are dismal is not true.

This was my experience, for sure. While there is no question that some districts are better than others, I think just about all the outlying areas have generally good schools.

RM

[Toxic Toast]

Originally Posted by McdonaldIndy

Any of the none IPS school districts are decent enough. Saying the Indy area schools are dismal is not true.

IPS is fine if you make the effort to get into the magnet schools. Some are as good as if not better than suburb schools.

[ndindy]

I live in Indianapolis and have lived in Pinellas county Florida. I understand that statistically, Indiana will score more conservative than Florida, my experience has been the opposite.

I think comparing mindsets, Florida seems more backward and less progressive than Indiana. I do live in Indianapolis, but have lived in Hamilton county and still believe that Florida has a more conservative feel. I don't think that the Indy metro area represents all of Indiana, just like the Tampa area isn't all of Florida.