How bad is Arizona public education? comparing to other States? (Phoenix: transplants, sex offenders)

[NiceJohn]

I have two kids in elementary schools. I enrolled them in the best school zone in Phoenix area. Still, I feel school is too easy for them. I suspect Arizona public education is far behind other States. Is this true?

[Kevin Beasley]

I use myschools.com when doing evaluations for my clients, friends, and family. You may also want to use the net to find registered sex offenders in the area.

[artvandelay]

I've read on this board from transplants, that even the best schools here only compare to average schools in the Midwest or East coast. This is why charter schools and home-schooling are a big deal here. I wouldn't trust the Arizona school reporting; my nephews attend a school ranked as "performing plus" which I believe is one level below "excelling", but they say the school is not very nice or challenging.

A friend of mine is happy with his son attending the public school (for assimilation growth) and Kumon as a challenging educational supplement.

[NiceJohn]

What about Dallas suburbs? Is Texas better?

[az4good]

We lived in Texas for a year and a half and expected to put our son in kindergarten there (we moved back to AZ this summer instead). Dallas schools do not have a good reputation at all. Frisco, Plano, Southlake, Fairview are all supposed to be really good. We would have been in the Frisco district, but I knew a lot of people in Fairview and the schools there were good as well. West Plano is kind of the Scottsdale of the area.

One of the biggest reasons I was fearful of AZ schools is that people in N. Texas who had a lot of money still sent their kids to public unless they wanted religious. Here in AZ I find that most people who can afford private go that route.

We had our son in private this year for kindergarten. The tuition is shooting up so we open enrolled in a school in PV district for next year. I was very impressed with the school, the test scores, and the overall feel of the place. I do have some reservations of course, but I feel like with open enrollment we were able to find the best school within a reasonable distance to our house. That isn't to say that if things don't meet our expectations that we won't put him back in private in the future.

Is he going to get an education comparable to public schools in Connecticut or Massachusetts? I doubt it. But you do the best you can with what you have to work with.

I would take a look at all the schools in your district and surrounding area. Many times their will be one school that outshines all the others. Great schools.net was a huge help to me in making my decisions.

[fabumom07]

Can someone give me a rough idea on the school year , ei. vacations and breaks, in the Gilbert area? I have heard they are all a little different,but haven't gotten a clear picture yet. Here in IN we have 2 1/2 mos. off in the summer, 2 weeks for holidays and 1 for Spring, as well as a few 3 day weekends and snow days. Thanks!

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by artvandelay

I've read on this board from transplants, that even the best schools here only compare to average schools in the Midwest or East coast. This is why charter schools and home-schooling are a big deal here. I wouldn't trust the Arizona school reporting; my nephews attend a school ranked as "performing plus" which I believe is one level below "excelling", but they say the school is not very nice or challenging.

A friend of mine is happy with his son attending the public school (for assimilation growth) and Kumon as a challenging educational supplement.

There ARE a FEW good, even great schools here. But unfortunately, they provide education for just a few thousands and the majority of the population is unable to attend those premiere schools. i know because my daughter attends one of the outstanding high schools here in the state.

For a large, bustling, brand spanking new boom town, our schools are atrocious! In fact, unless your student is enrolled and RECEIVES the International Baccalaureate Diploma, most students will find it extremely difficult to get accepted into an out of state school that is worthy of it's reputation.

With that said, however, I think it's a double edged sword here in Phoenix and the suburbs. By that I mean, even if a school is passable, there are so many parents who just DON'T get involved with their children's education!!!! I have taught school before (K-12) and I can tell you, the kids that succeed, are the kids whose parent's are involved. Unless a child is truly gifted, a true protege' then it's up to the parents to follow their children's education all the way through high school. Here in lies the problem, unless you have a child who finds school exciting and wants to be there (including high schoolers) without a parents intervention, the students here in Phoenix will fall way behind the rest of the students in the nation.

For example, when we first moved here and my children were entering the 5th and 7th grades, the principal of a well known Scottsdale school reviewed my children's school records (they were coming from New York and Virginia) and were told, "They are so much farther ahead then the other students that I feel no need for them to continue out the school year. They have already surpassed the state standards by TWO YEARS!" This was in January! My children really never attended school that year.
They were both placed in "gifted" classes when they did begin the following year - now that's messed up.

THAT'S a problem! Another problem I see is that because our standards are SO low, and teachers pass kids too easily here, many parents think their kids are doing well in school and seem thrilled by the results. Therefore, they see nothing wrong and do not understand until it's too late that their children lag behind the rest of the nation severely in education.

I would say that SAT scores for high schoolers are a great indicator, except I know that's not true because so many people supplement their child's education (as I did ) with private lessons through learning establishments such as the Princeton Review to up their child's SAT score. What I see as the true test to how successful a state is in educating it's students is the amount of students who are accepted into a challenging university. I don't mean one or two students from the graduating class either. You really need to look at all the numbers and take the percentage of those who applied and those who were accepted. Unfortunately, not many students find it easy to get into an out of state college with a solid reputation if they are from Arizona.

Having said all that, I don't think it's impossible to receive an outstanding education here in certain areas. But as is typical everywhere in the US, the best schools are in the wealthiest areas. Then again, when we lived in NY, we lived in a normal middle class neighborhood, our children went to an "ok" school but what helped the most was that I stayed involved and on top of what they were learning in school. I made sure I knew who the best teachers were, which teachers fit my child's learning style and made sure I supplemented what they learned in school with other types of lessons. Because my kids were a head of the curve compared to the other students, I worked directly with the teacher to have my children challenged with harder tests and more homework than the other students. My son was clearly way ahead of his peers in elementary and middle school so the teachers and I sat down and reviewed tests for him and picked spelling words that would be harder for him instead of just letting him take the easy tests and breeze through.

He was a National Merit Scholarship Finalist. He went to an Arizona school. My daughter started school when she was 4. I am happy to say, she is doing well also and has been accepted to some very reputable colleges (U of Miami, NYU, Boston U, Penn State to name a few). Both my children did the IB program.

So it can happen, but you have to stay on top of things. You must be active in your child's education - especially in high school, because THAT is where our schools fail miserably and just can't seem to catch up to the rest of the country with it's standards.

Since we are on this topic (one of my favs) I just wanted to add, that if you have the opportunity, write to Gov. Napalitano, because the first place she is taking money from the budget is from the SCHOOLS. I can hear the sucking sound as I write. There is no way we can possibly flourish as a state with a wildly under educated society, which is what the city of Phoenix is quickly becoming.

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by fabumom07

Can someone give me a rough idea on the school year , ei. vacations and breaks, in the Gilbert area? I have heard they are all a little different,but haven't gotten a clear picture yet. Here in IN we have 2 1/2 mos. off in the summer, 2 weeks for holidays and 1 for Spring, as well as a few 3 day weekends and snow days. Thanks!

I'd go to the school district website. Just google Gilbert Schools district, you should be able to find the info you are looking for.

[fdxboy]

There is a reason that Phoenix (and it's surrounding area's) have the mantra of: Phoenix is a great place to live...as long as you don't have kids.

Test scores in the state rank toward the bottom.
ESL...TONS of money go into this program.
Low property tax means less money for schools. You get what you pay for.

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by fdxboy

There is a reason that Phoenix (and it's surrounding area's) have the mantra of: Phoenix is a great place to live...as long as you don't have kids.

Test scores in the state rank toward the bottom.
ESL...TONS of money go into this program.
Low property tax means less money for schools. You get what you pay for.

Spoken like a true wiseman.