Moving From the Mid-West to the AZ (Phoenix, Glendale: low income, home)

[From Cold 2 Hot]

I am relocating to AZ from the Mid-West in the next month or two. I have a job offer in Glendale but like Phoenix or Gilbert as far as living there. Are there any good schools in Phoenix and Gilbert and how far would my commute be to Glendale if I lived in either city?

[KurtAZ]

No...there aren't...our education system is one of the worst in the country. And about an hour from Gilbert to Glendale...depending on where in each city.

[JGMotorsport64]

Good Schools for what? and No why Gilbert over WV Suburbs, they're almost identical.

[i'm not a cookie]

Originally Posted by From Cold 2 Hot

I am relocating to AZ from the Mid-West in the next month or two. I have a job offer in Glendale but like Phoenix or Gilbert as far as living there. Are there any good schools in Phoenix and Gilbert and how far would my commute be to Glendale if I lived in either city?

Public or Private? For the most part, the Madison school district is good in Phoenix. Can't speak for Gilbert, only been there once....but I can say that a commute from Gilbert to Glendale wouldn't be the most fun.

[goolsbyjazz]

The commute from Gilbert to Glendale would be a long, difficult one. Gilbert is a nice up and coming city and the schools are not as bad as some make them out to be. You just have to be actively involved in your child's education. Our legislature has not made education a priority, in terms of funding, but that does not mean there aren't good schools here. There are.

[Dewey59]

You do NOT want to commute from Gilbert! Ugh! Consider Peoria, or communities in the Dysart Unified School District. I do not have kids, so cannot speak first hand, but I have been involved in some charity stuff for the Dysart district and have been impressed with their creative programs and engagement of the staff.

[AZJoeD]

Originally Posted by From Cold 2 Hot

I am relocating to AZ from the Mid-West in the next month or two. I have a job offer in Glendale but like Phoenix or Gilbert as far as living there. Are there any good schools in Phoenix and Gilbert and how far would my commute be to Glendale if I lived in either city?

Not enough information in your post. Glendale is fairly large city served by multiple school districts. Phoenix is a large city also served by multiple school districts. While most posters have commented on Arizona's problems with public schools (Arizona does have a problem with school funding), there are good schools in the metro area.

So first I would like to know where in Glendale (address or company location) your potential employment is located. Also what your budget and housing requirements are going to be. From there you could begin to identify areas and schools that meet your needs.

You mentioned you like Gilbert and Phoenix. What is it that attracts to these areas? It is hard to imagine that you cannot find what you are looking for in the Northwest valley.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by From Cold 2 Hot

I am relocating to AZ from the Mid-West in the next month or two. I have a job offer in Glendale but like Phoenix or Gilbert as far as living there. Are there any good schools in Phoenix and Gilbert and how far would my commute be to Glendale if I lived in either city?

Basically you need to follow the money. The nicer areas have more motivated parents who on average have higher expectations for their kids. Gilbert fits that statement. Parts of Arrowhead in Glendale does as well. There is a lot of new wealth in parts of Peoria too. This statement becomes much more critical in lower funded states like AZ (USA funding ranked at #46). If you shed the demotivated/problem students, then your education dollars go MUCH farther in actually teaching versus babysitting problem kids. Saying it another way, the highest spending districts in the USA normally has dismal test results. That's because money cannot buy education in low income problem areas. They can spend triple the funds and still have nothing to show for it. So money by itself is meaningless. Money and motivated families are where you get the best education!

Just because you dodge the problem areas, that doesn't fix that teacher salaries are less than ideal in AZ. Look at this article https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-w...teachers/7159/ . AZ is ranked #49 out of 51 by teachers. On average, you get higher turnover, lower caliber teachers who more easily become demotivated. Just like industry, it costs more money to hire better staff.

If you are an active parent and are nurturing and you dodge the demotivated families (follow the money) you can get a decent education in AZ. We always were active in the schools in order to influence which teachers our kids got the following year. I've talked with several AZ teachers who came from the midwest (#3 ranked MN). Unfortunately in AZ, there are K-12 public education compromises. When AZ spends the 4th lowest in the country there will be educational compromises as compared to other states. Spending more is not a priority. Therefore AZ K-12 education is simply not as good as WI, Boston, MN, Iowa, VT, PA and other areas of the country.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by KurtAZ

No...there aren't...our education system is one of the worst in the country. And about an hour from Gilbert to Glendale...depending on where in each city.

That's funny because the east valley alone is home to two of the top 100 high schools in the country and the valley as a whole has 4.

Map: See the Top 100 High Schools in the Nation - US News

[KurtAZ]

Originally Posted by locolife

That's funny because the east valley alone is home to two of the top 100 high schools in the country and the valley as a whole has 4.

Map: See the Top 100 High Schools in the Nation - US News

Charter schools. Good luck getting into BASIS or ACP. BASIS is on a lottery and ACP has a lengthy application process.

AZMerit/NCSC Scores