Laguna Niguel Public Schools

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

Like it or not, school quality in OC/LA Counties is, more often than not, based on race.

Smart people -> good jobs -> nice neighborhoods.
Smart people -> smart kids.
Smart kids in neighborhoods schools -> good school performance.

[sailnd]

Originally Posted by Charles

Smart people -> good jobs -> nice neighborhoods.
Smart people -> smart kids.
Smart kids in neighborhoods schools -> good school performance.

That was the reason for the initial inquiry about a couple of schools in the district that dont have significant minority population and are within affluent boundaries. Unless there are so many apartment dwellers in those geographic areas that pull down the scores. Not sure...scratching head.

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

Like it or not, school quality in OC/LA Counties is, more often than not, based on race.

So why is this not the case in SB Co?

[Fontucky]

It most certainly is the case here, but I limited my examples to two counties for the sake of brevity.

[NaplesRes]

Originally Posted by Fontucky

Like it or not, school quality in OC/LA Counties is, more often than not, based on race.

It's always based on parents who care and prioritize education. Teachers, school rankings, principals, etc are very much secondary in my opinion. Parents who see the value in education make sure their kids spend time on it. I think it's funny that people spend so much time worrying about whether a school is ranked 7 or 8 or whatever. Yeah I guess a school ranked extremely low may be an indicator of some issues but a kid with good parents and a crappy rated school will almost always be a better student and get a better education than a kid at a great rated school with parents who don't care.

[hsw]

For any urban/suburban region, need to figure out where are the industries/employers that tend to have smarter, well-educated professionals...and where do such professionals choose to reside and send their kids to school

OC and LA (even in upscale suburbs) have perhaps lowest % of educated professionals of any major US urban region, as region is not a powerful center for tech or finance

But Irvine/NwptBch area has Broadcom and Pimco...and a few small tech cos. scattered around both slummy and newer parts of OC; suspect most top engineers and financiers live in NwptCoast and Irvine

Irvine public schools are academically solid, not great; don't know of any private schools in OC region at academic caliber of LA's Harvard-Westlake when examine % of kids who are NatlMeritFinalists or % who gain entry to top 5-10 colleges