Monroeville?.....Advice....Safe....Decline (Pittsburgh, Washington: neighborhoods, school, living)

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by gg

Regardless of Westinghouse, that area was CRUSHED by that horrible school district merger. It was truly sinful what they did to those people that lived there. One thing for sure, if you are in an area that is discussing merging with a high crime area, sell your home as fast as you can. Talk about a huge drop in price. Imagine what Edgewood and Churchill would be like if they still had their schools in place. They would be wildly popular. Great locations to the East End and even Pittsburgh. What a shame that was. That judge should have been fired, but I am sure he is retired living off the taxpayers on some huge salary.

Edgewood has a different population now than it did back then, but I'm not sure I'd say it declined significantly. Those big old homes came back into style, and people like walking to Regent Square.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again. The best thing for Woodland Hills and Penn Hills now (and of course Wilkinsburg) would be if they merged into Pittsburgh Public Schools. All the school districts share similar demographics, and similar test scores. Being in PPS would allow parents access to city magnet options and the Pittsburgh Promise. It would also cut property taxes tremendously, which would be a big help to non parents - particularly retirees for whom the the city income tax carries no sting.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Edgewood has a different population now than it did back then, but I'm not sure I'd say it declined significantly. Those big old homes came back into style, and people like walking to Regent Square.

I've said this before, and I'll say it again. The best thing for Woodland Hills and East Hills now (and of course Wilkinsburg) would be if they merged into Pittsburgh Public Schools. All the school districts share similar demographics, and similar test scores. Being in PPS would allow parents access to city magnet options and the Pittsburgh Promise. It would also cut property taxes tremendously, which would be a big help to non parents - particularly retirees for whom the the city income tax carries no sting.

For a long time after the merger, Woodland Hills retained a robust roster of honors/AP courses and extracurricular activities. Through the very early '00s, it was a lot like Allderdice--aggregately "meh" test scores that represented a false median between academic and socioeconomic extremes. As it stands, Churchill Area and Edgewood definitely suffered net losses, but General Braddock undoubtedly reaped a net gain. For Turtle Creek and Swissvale Area, it's probably a wash.

When the District was released from federal supervision, a lot of funding dried up, and the offerings that catered to bright, high-achieving students were gradually scaled back. When I was doing my capstone creative nonfiction piece (the reason I originally joined C-D), I found that while there were quite a few competent and dedicated teachers and administrators, woeful mismanagement and revolving-door leadership made the sum far less than the parts.

My con law prof was actually part of the legal team that represented Swissvale Area SD. I won't get into the merits, but it was very interesting to share our experiences.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

Agreeed. I think Churchill was pretty much the nicest Eastern burb in the 1970's until the merger hit. At the time, Murrysville was pretty far out. Churchill has Edgewood Country Club and at the time a ton of people (with very good jobs) worked for Westinghouse. Back then the parkway wasn't as bad as it is either.

Originally Posted by gg

Regardless of Westinghouse, that area was CRUSHED by that horrible school district merger. It was truly sinful what they did to those people that lived there. One thing for sure, if you are in an area that is discussing merging with a high crime area, sell your home as fast as you can. Talk about a huge drop in price. Imagine what Edgewood and Churchill would be like if they still had their schools in place. They would be wildly popular. Great locations to the East End and even Pittsburgh. What a shame that was. That judge should have been fired, but I am sure he is retired living off the taxpayers on some huge salary.

I agree with both of these posts. Churchill was one of the best and brightest SDs in the Eastern Suburbs. Sad to see what it turned into.

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Edgewood has a different population now than it did back then, but I'm not sure I'd say it declined significantly. Those big old homes came back into style, and people like walking to Regent Square.

I don't think you realize just how nice Edgewood was back then. It definitely declined post merger. It has gotten nicer over the last 10 years but it still isn't back to where it was.

Back in the day people (non-residents) paid tuition to go to Edgewood schools.

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by ElijahAstin

For a long time after the merger, Woodland Hills retained a robust roster of honors/AP courses and extracurricular activities.

I don't dispute that but at the same time a lot of kids were shipped off to private school as soon as the merger hit. I know I was bussed from Churchill to Squirrel Hill and every kid on the bus with me switched schools right when the merger hit. And this wasn't the only bus because my sister did the same thing but she rode a different bus to a different school.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

I don't dispute that but at the same time a lot of kids were shipped off to private school as soon as the merger hit. I know I was bussed from Churchill to Squirrel Hill and every kid on the bus with me switched schools right when the merger hit. And this wasn't the only bus because my sister did the same thing but she rode a different bus to a different school.

I know many families panicked and pulled their kids out immediately. I'm only saying there was no reason to do on the basis of academics until the early '00s. Peer groups are something else entirely.

[robrobrob]

ElijahAstin, when you were looking into the Woodland Hills School District did you happen to find out how many kids from Churchill actually attend Woody High. Someone once told me the number once and it was such a small number it was hard to believe. Now this was 5-7 years ago so times may have changed.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

ElijahAstin, when you were looking into the Woodland Hills School District did you happen to find out how many kids from Churchill actually attend Woody High. Someone once told me the number once and it was such a small number it was hard to believe. Now this was 5-7 years ago so times may have changed.

Unfortunately, I never found that out. I'd imagine Churchill residents still disproportionately enroll in private schools, but that's probably starting to reverse.

There is American Community Survey data on the subject, but the margin of error is far too high to be helpful (e.g., an estimated 9 +/- 15 and 69 +/- 48 high school aged females respectively attend public and private schools).

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

I don't think you realize just how nice Edgewood was back then. It definitely declined post merger. It has gotten nicer over the last 10 years but it still isn't back to where it was.

Back in the day people (non-residents) paid tuition to go to Edgewood schools.

It might not rank up there with Fox Chapel these days, but it's still an upper-middle class kind of place. One of my coworkers lives there, and everyone in his neighborhood that isn't elderly/lived there for decades is some kind of professional (doctor, lawyer, professor, etc).

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by eschaton

It might not rank up there with Fox Chapel these days, but it's still an upper-middle class kind of place. One of my coworkers lives there, and everyone in his neighborhood that isn't elderly/lived there for decades is some kind of professional (doctor, lawyer, professor, etc).

Again not disputing it is nice these days but it was nicer back then.