The federal presence needs to be severely reduced. The how and what of the education of our children was and should be returned as a local resposibility removing the federal bureaucrats from the equation.

The second part of the answer is to take a hint from Ronald Reagon and do away with the union influence on our education system. It simply has no place in this vital aspect of our social fabric. The sloth and obstruction, by the unions, of real educational systemic improvement must be dealt with.

PC will get us all
LEE

Anyway, it’s not always the amount of money that makes the difference–it’s the talent of the teachers and the skills of the school’s management.

Amen to that.
Thanks to a State Supreme Court ruling, NJ plays Robin Hood and takes from the “rich” and gives to the poor. Problem is, it’s not just the rich, it’s the middle class too. Our property taxes then have to go up to pay for our own schools. Then a few years ago, the State introduced a budget cap, but it doesn’t exempt insurance, so even failing suburban schools can’t throw money at the problem to make it better and we’re having to cut sports and languages and music. Corzine has proposed a new funding formula set to negate the need for “Abbott Districts” but it actually gives them more money. To top it off, the ACLU among other groups are fighting the new formula:
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-10/120961659366210.xml&coll=1
Meanwhile, here’s a look at what an audit of Abbott district Union City has found – the most aggregious being a contract for the bus drivers to be paid 6 hours overtime to charge their school cell phones:
http://www.nj.com/hudsoncountynow/index.ssf/2008/04/lawmakers_slam_outrageous_offe.html

The reasons: 1.Teacher Unions don’t want competition while sending their kids to “Running Start” programs that others can’t get into.

2. Too many Republicans and Democrats with money don’t want their elite private school opened to middle-class/poor rabble

I also built my house including a 1/2 acre lot for $115,000 which would of cost well over $200,000 in the city in which I work. Also my property taxes are $1200 the lowest in the state. I will take the 45 mile commute to have my kids go to a great school and live in a safe town. Also, I didn’t have to go into debt.

Hey, Government I should be rewarded. Not the idiots who buried themselves in debt.

Schools had a lot to do with my decision to move across Rockland county. My son was told by another student that if his older brother saw him wearing his red jacket, the color of the bloods, he would be stabbed. This was in 4th grade in a racially mixed middle class neighborhood. My wife and I decided we had to be out before my son reached high school. The HS was large, incompetent, and violent. Gangs owned the hallways and only white students were disciplined consistently.

We moved to a district where there are less than 200 children in each grade. We are much happier now and the boys are much safer.

If I were you, I would be sure to look at the size of the schools. The smaller comunity schools seem to be able to do a better job of educating and they generally provide a better environment.

How true. Losers beget losers.
Losers vote Democrat, have babies and stay losers.

On May 6th, 2008 at 6:12 pm, see-dubya said:

People aren’t getting into hock for a house in a good school district.

I tell you, I am about to do exactly that.

Would you be willing to buy the worst house in the district? Realtors will tell you that is smart to buy the worst house in a good neighborhood rather than the best house in a lesser neighborhood.

If you are buying for the sake of the schools, buy cheap. Better yet: rent. You will be somewhat insulated from tax hike shocks. Also, unless there is a good sized commercial base in the district, be forewarned about tax increases. If you are the poorest guy in the district, everybody around you will care less than you do about tax hikes. The neighbors might not blink on what will make you choke.

People aren’t getting into hock for a house in a good school district.

I tell you, I am about to do exactly that.

The number 1 predictor of how well you will do in school is what womb you dropped out of. Rich people don’t move into school districts because they are good. School districts are good because rich people live in them. Wealthy people value education and pass on that value to their children, overtly and subliminally.

If you want to spend a whole lot of time checking this, go to sites like School Matters and look at school districts that are basically wealthy and have one school in a “poor” neighborhood. This is easy to do by looking for Title I schools. Invariably, the school in the poorer neighborhood will have lower achievement.

There are two commonly used antidotes to this situation. 1.Pour an extraordinary amount of extra resources into the school. 2. Run a good Pre-K and kindergarten so you can get the kids away from their parents as early and as long as possible. Each of these will work. The problem is “equity.” It is almost impossible for a district to disproportionately allocate resources among schools, even when it is justified. So, schools that will get along fine, thank-you-very-much, end up getting resources they don’t need when more are needed elsewhere.

However, it is bigoted and foolish to say this is a universal truth. Supportive parents of any income level can make their children succeed. It is just harder when few people around you are on that bandwagon, just as the opposite is true.

It is sad to say that indifference to education is spreading to all social strata. An overindulged generation has grown up with a you-owe-me attitude fueled by getting everything they want with little effort. Similarly, discipline and self-discipline are an oddity nowadays.

What do we expect? People aren’t getting into hock for a house in a good school district. They get in over their heads for the sake of granite countertops and 1,000 sq. ft. bathrooms. It just so happens that such houses are in neighborhoods filled with rich people and their schools are better.

The old adage is true: you’re judged by the company you keep. Just as true: better schools are, indirectly, a result of a meritocracy.