Any one move to Pitts from So.Cali? (Pittsburgh, Lebanon: real estate, condo)

[Katarina Witt]

It then sounds quite similar to Colorado. In general, declining enrollment means less money. Note that phrase, "in general". It is not the case 100% of the time.

[guylocke]

Well in the case of North Hills, declining enrollment won't really mean much and could even be beneficial. Like we've said, North Hills gets MASSIVE amounts of school revenue from the business that is associated with that area.

McKnight Rd - enough said.

The business aspects of North Hills are FAR from declining. It's probably a richer school district than EVER. In fact, it's probably all that huge commerce that's chasing so many people out of the city. The traffic is a mcknightmare.

[claremarie]

Declining enrollment means a LOT. It means the loss of neighborhood elementary schools, which is never beneficial.
If the district were awash in cash, then it could afford to keep all seven schools open, but it isn't and it can't. Those are the facts. The tax base just isn't there, regardless of McKnight Road, which has always been the retail hub of the area.
And you haven't seen traffic if you think that McKnight Rd is bad.

[guylocke]

Well it must all be about perspective and location. Like I said, my boyfriend's family still has 3 kids in school and they don't seemed worried about it at all. And as I've posted in this thread (or maybe one of the others), North Hills is doing better than ever academically. Not sure how anyone can complain about that.

North hills just got a freaking Target on McKnight! Do you have any idea how much tax reaping the city will have not to mention the huge amounts of money Target is known for donating to the local community? How about the ENORMOUS addition to Ross Park Mall, the Cheesecake Factory, and Nordstroms? If you don't think North Hills is making a killing on these businesses, you're kidding yourself. Just because McKnight has always been a business hub (which isn't even accurate) it doesn't mean it hasn't hideously continued to grow exponentially, which it has.

They are closing schools because it isn't necessary to have them all open. They are consolidating schools and not stretching themselves overly thin, which is a completely normal and appropriate response to declining enrollment. North Hills pays their faculty way above the national average and each student is allotted an absurd amount of money. The district is actually in debt because keeping that kind of quality and ranking is insanely expensive despite the huge amounts of taxing they take in. And the school district is hardly going to hell, the remaining elementary schools are being expanded and renovated. You make it sound like North Hills had 35,000 students last year and this year it has 150. North Hills still has over 5,000 students and the drop in enrollment % isn't all that impressive. An enrollment GROWING too quickly is just as bad as a declining one.

[Katarina Witt]

Closing schools is always painful. I have seen school closures in Pennsylvania, Illinois and here in Colorado. Everyone uses the same arguments: "we will lose our sense of community", "it will cost too much to bus the kids elsewhere", "I went to that school and I want my grandchildren to go there", etc, etc, etc.

My elementary school was closed when there were too few kids to go there and the building needed extensive repairs. My brother and I were long out of there. My parents complained about it for the rest of their lives, literally. School closings cause ill will and are usually done only when there are no other options available.

[guylocke]

It is sad, without a doubt. I don't mean to sound apathetic. I can't deny that enrollment is declining because it is, for many reasons. Like I keep saying, the only thing I care about and the only point I'm trying to make is that the prestige of the school is still there and stronger than ever. They must be doing something right.

[claremarie]

No, I don't think that NH is making a "killing" on its retail businesses. Otherwise, it would not have been forced to close the schools. The schools are closing because of declining enrollments and the refusal of many residents to submit to higher taxes (because they have no school-age children). The money is just not there.

And if NH is paying absurd salaries (which it well might be), it is because of the ridiculous power of the teachers' unions in Western PA, not because of the superb qualifications of its employees. You know, those unions that went on strike for more than a month when we were kids because they were so committed to high quality education. Those advanced degrees -- how many are masters or PhDs in real disciplines, such as English or math or physics or history, and how many are masters in education completed on evenings and weekends to qualify for higher pay??

[guylocke]

Why should it matter? The students IQ scores and graduation rate and acceptance to higher education % should be what matters. and North Hills shines bright. It's seveth in the nation (I believe Hopes has this citation). What exactly are these teachers getting PhDs in if not history, english, math, and arts? Do you want them to be physicians, surgeons, and pharmacists? You can't get a PhD in bussiness. Maybe I don't understand your last post.

[Katarina Witt]

I believe that was 7th in the Pittsburgh area, and that refers to test scores. Despite what a lot of people say, on many different forums, there are no national rankings of school districts that I am aware of, and I have been involved with school issues for a long time.

The teachers unions are known to be very strong in PA.

[guylocke]

I think you may be right, Pittnurse, I will try to find what Hopes had cited.

EDIT

found it!! You're right she said COUNTY not COUNTRY. haha, my mistake. That sounds better.