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There are plenty of options: TX, VA, The carolinas etc. all offers good job opportunities with a potentially lower COL and lighter tax burden. And once the economy recovers, even FL will join that mix.
You have to take a test to attend those schools. Some might require a portfolio or something similar.
I'm not arguing the entry criteria. These schools are all over the country and I don't think they give an accurate reflection of the complete district, thats all.
I'm not arguing the entry criteria. These schools are all over the country and I don't think they give an accurate reflection of the complete district, thats all.
I wasn't saying that. My point was that the bad press urban school districts get shouldn't be put on every school in that district and that some of the best high schools in the state are in very urban school districts. It's arguable that City Honors in Buffalo is the best HS in the state academically. City Honors School-F Masten Pk Test Scores - Buffalo, New York - NY
I will never "flee" NYS again.. Many of those who have will be back.
Don't hold your breath waiting for me....in the 9 years since leaving, I've never so much as set foot back in NY.
Generally speaking, even people who don't have anywhere near the level of vitriol I have for NY, upon leaving and seeing what life is like elsewhere, have no desire to return.
Of all my friends and relatives who've left NY for various and diverse places, only one misses Lawn Guyland....and that is likely only because she was still young when her family left, and lived with mommy and daddy.
[Funny thing- before leaving NY, I could actually see myself returning once in a while and maybe acting like a tourist...staying at a hotel in Manhattan and just spending a few days every once in a while enjoying the city. After actually leaving and being here in a nice place where there's no traffic, crime or congestion...and where strangers wave to you when their car passes yours on the road.....I have had no desire whatsoever to actually endure what is necessary just to get to NYC- much less pay good money to stay there....I know if I ever had done that, I'd just be ready to come back home to KY.within 15 minutes...]
Last edited by Ronkonkomoan; 01-25-2011 at 10:08 AM..
A few thoughts after reading the last few pages.....
Statistics only measure certain aspects of given thing.
Saying that a particular school system is better or worse than another just based on numbers (usually obtained from students performance on tests that have been drastically dumbed-down over the years) or using demographics such as income levels of parents, is absurd.
I don't condone public (i.e. taxpayer-funded government-run) schools, period- but I have made certain observations about ones in various far-flung locations- both as a student when I was of school age, and as an adult interacting with the teens of local residents- and I have noticed that oftentimes, poorer areas produce far-superior results.
Where I live now, for instance, the average per capita income is a fraction of what it is in even the very poorest districts on LI- but yet the kids have a far nicer experience and tend to be much better behaved and have a much more mature outlook and actually possess more factual knowledge and intellectual skills those of the same age on LI, largely I believe for two reasons: A)Their parents are more involved in their lives, overall (Not having to work 3 jobs to pay absurd taxes) and those parents pass on their conservative values to the kids...as well as the fact that most of the [very low-paid] teachers are from the local area and share the same values.
And B)There is more unity- i.e. most children here come from a similar background (poor to lower middle-class rural and small town) and a similar religion and ancestry- which is quite a stark contrast to "diverse" situation in NY where you have a smorgasbord of kids ranging from ghetto-dwellers to the elite; from various races and cultures; from homes where parents are for all intents and purposes only available nights and weekends...to homes where there is a full-time mom...liberal to conservative...
Point is, in a less diverse population, certain basic assumptions can be more easily agreed upon, and more time can be spent actually educating, which is much easier when your audience is made up of similar kinds...as opposed to being made up of diverse kinds who neither think in a similar manner nor agree upon many things.
As a kid, I went to school in a small town in MO. for about a year and a half- and it was the best school I had attended- far superior to those of LI and NYC- even though it was a poor rural area. I attribute the high quality mainly to the facts I mention above, and because of the fact that the school was "behind the times" compared to NY- which means that they still taught geography and history, whereas in NY all I ever had was the inferior "social studies". I learned more actual knowledge in that short time in the MO. school, than in the rest of my educational "career".
Now that school may not have ranked as highly as the schools back on LI- but that would depend on whose standards one was using to meausre- i.e. one which valued social studies and "new math" or one which valued actual knowledge and performance in subjects like geography and history and real math and actually measure useful, meaningful knowledge vs. performance on some test which is more interested in changing the values of the students, than in educating them.
Having come from the Sachem district, which has to be one of the most expensive in the country, and serving many affluent people- I was at a distinct disadvantage in the school in MO. where the more traditional subjects were taught, and where performance was expected (And where the teachers tended to be much older and wiser, vs. the 22 year-old dingbats in NY fresh out of college.) I have always had a rather high IQ (150 when I was 16) and could coast through school in Sachem...but in MO. I had to really pay attention and do some extra studying on my own, just to be where the poor farm kids were at!
Re: Population of various areas increasing or decreasing:
When I left NY, I specifically sought out areas where they were losing people. Building and maintaining new infrastructure to handle an increasing population is expensive....and the taxpayers foot that bill. Also, usually the areas that see growth, are areas being fueled either by the influx of foreigners (I enjoyed being amongst people from different cultures and backgrounds when they were a small minority....but when places become like NYC and LI where the foreigners start to outnumber you....that is not a good thing!) or by the influx of people fleeing places like NY- and either scenario is not good- as it only results in increased taxes and decreased quality of life and higher cost of living, with more competition for everything from jobs to housing.
My plan worked beautifully! The county where I now live still has few foreigners and few ex-NYers....we still have just one traffic light...and my fears of someone buying the acreage nextdoor and building a housing development were unfounded....and in 9 years, my property taxes have gone from $227 to $240 a year. (So low because I only have 28 acres....my neighbor with 250 acres is paying close to a grand!)
In short...statistics about income, population, schools, etc. mean very little. The quality of an area really can only be measured by observation and experience....and those results will vary depending on what you are looking for. Some liberal Jew from Garden City would probably consider where I live to be hell, just as I would think the same of Garden City.....
Last edited by Ronkonkomoan; 01-25-2011 at 10:14 AM..
There are plenty of options: TX, VA, The carolinas etc. all offers good job opportunities with a potentially lower COL and lighter tax burden. And once the economy recovers, even FL will join that mix.
They also have lower salaries. Everything is relative: lower COL = lower pay.
There are plenty of options: TX, VA, The carolinas etc. all offers good job opportunities with a potentially lower COL and lighter tax burden. And once the economy recovers, even FL will join that mix.
I checked into the COL and salary using a SALARY calculator. This is what I found using my salary:
VA: $1193 less of disposable income; COL is 18.4% lower; Salary 19.2% lower.
SC: $18,814 less of disposable income; COL 6.9% lower; salary 19.4% lower.
TX: $7,018 more of disposable income; COL 15.6% lower;salary 11% lower.
There are taxes in VA and SC (ex: tax on retired military pay, personal tax on automobiles and boats, etc.) With all the states that are in debt because of pensions and health benefits, the tax structures will be changing in the next few years. The grass may look greener on the other side, but you still have to cut it.
Don't hold your breath waiting for me....in the 9 years since leaving, I've never so much as set foot back in NY.
Generally speaking, even people who don't have anywhere near the level of vitriol I have for NY, upon leaving and seeing what life is like elsewhere, have no desire to return.
Of all my friends and relatives who've left NY for various and diverse places, only one misses Lawn Guyland....and that is likely only because she was still young when her family left, and lived with mommy and daddy.
[Funny thing- before leaving NY, I could actually see myself returning once in a while and maybe acting like a tourist...staying at a hotel in Manhattan and just spending a few days every once in a while enjoying the city. After actually leaving and being here in a nice place where there's no traffic, crime or congestion...and where strangers wave to you when their car passes yours on the road.....I have had no desire whatsoever to actually endure what is necessary just to get to NYC- much less pay good money to stay there....I know if I ever had done that, I'd just be ready to come back home to KY.within 15 minutes...]
I lived in NY state for my whole life except for 5 years and I have never once been to NYC. Theres more to ny than NYC. My husband is from florida and loves it here in Rochester. Hes actually happy with his life for once.
I lived in NY state for my whole life except for 5 years and I have never once been to NYC. Theres more to ny than NYC. My husband is from florida and loves it here in Rochester. Hes actually happy with his life for once.
As ex-military family, we have lived around the world and settled in upstate NY. Rarely go into NYC and comparing upstate NY to NYC is apples and oranges.
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