DC Area Schools vs Bay Area Schools

[Anonymous]

Some schools are more diverse racially, but top school have the same socio-economic diversity as Langley and Whitman.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some schools are more diverse racially, but top school have the same socio-economic diversity as Langley and Whitman.

I don't think that's true.

[Anonymous]

How about schools in Pleasanton?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC area schools are waaay better funded. The good Bay Area schools are like semi-private where they ask you to "donate" like $1300/child per year for thing like PE and art and music.

There are no magnet programs in most of the Bay Area schools. SF school district is a crap shoot. All lottery and there is only one really good HS (Lowell).

We moved out of the Bay Area in part due to the terrible school funding and lack of programs.

Crazy. I guess I take basic things like PE and art for granted

My DD is in a public high school in SF and has taken art for 9th, 10th and now 11th grade.

Middle school and high school are a whole different animal. School districts in the bay area typically don't have funds for: art, music, or foreign language for elementary school. These things are funded by parent donations either through the PTA or the school district's education fund (which is a nonprofit that fundraises from parents and businesses.) Many districts in the bay area are K-8 districts and then there are large high school districts that are much larger. There are some K-12 districts too. SF is a K-12 district, Palo Alto is a K-12 district.

Some of these smaller school districts have magnet schools, some do not. The blanket statement of no magnet programs is incorrect but is likely that poster's experience with their K-8 district. Most language immersion schools are magnet, as are the public montessori schools.

"There are no magnet programs in most of the Bay Area schools", not that there are no magnets at all.

And DC area has ES/MS magnets, and Bay Area schools do not, at least none that I am aware of. The few they used to have were cut due to budget cuts, and instead it became an after school parent run program.

Just spoke to a friend who lives in the South Bay, and she said some of the expensive areas are under-enrolled -- Cupertino, Saratoga... etc..and that exacerbates funding issues. She said the PTA had to scrounge up money for an additional teacher to keep their class sizes manageable. These are small town based school districts with one HS.

[Anonymous]

The education on the east coast is more advanced. We’ve made a couple of cross country moves for hubs work and each time we land in DC the kids have a full year to catch up on if not more. This is pretty common amongst the others we have talked to so we know we are not alone. We live in Marin County, in Tiburon specifically. Where we live there is a hierarchy amongst the parents it seems with the PTA/Foundation parents who raise millions of dollars up at the top (no surprise there obv). The surprise comes when you see the amount of control they have on your child’s school experience , sports teams, play dates, after school programs etc. If white self segregation isn’t your thing and you choose to support the kids in Marin city 5 minutes away (the AG stepped in to force desegregation btw) you will be surprised by the level of insidiousness with which the people in power operate. It’s really awful. Sure you might think it’s bad in DC, but Marin County takes inhumanity to another level. It’s bizarro world over here, you have a far better chance raising a good human in DC.

[Anonymous]

Forgive the ignorant question, but this is what I can’t understand about San Francisco- housing is so crazy expensive that teachers regularly commute from far away, right? But then there are all these high poverty, low performing schools in the middle of the city. Where are all these poor families living and how can they afford it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Forgive the ignorant question, but this is what I can’t understand about San Francisco- housing is so crazy expensive that teachers regularly commute from far away, right? But then there are all these high poverty, low performing schools in the middle of the city. Where are all these poor families living and how can they afford it?

Some live in Section 8 housing, some live in homes purchased decades ago by relatives, some live in very cramped quarters with 4 people to a room and some are homeless.

[Anonymous]

The robotics teams are way better in CA. No comparison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Forgive the ignorant question, but this is what I can’t understand about San Francisco- housing is so crazy expensive that teachers regularly commute from far away, right? But then there are all these high poverty, low performing schools in the middle of the city. Where are all these poor families living and how can they afford it?

I have rent control. DD and I live in a one-bedroom rent-controlled apartment in a shitty apartment building. There are SRO buildings in Chinatown and the Tenderloin too.

[Anonymous]

This will give you a glimpse. I couldn’t believe this could exist in this age, and literally a 15 minute drive from San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge! It will give you a good idea of the community, and mindset of the people/parents living in the wealthy areas.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.marinij.com/2020/01/22/tam-high-students-debut-documentary-on-sausalito-marin-city-saga/amp/

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Forgive the ignorant question, but this is what I can’t understand about San Francisco- housing is so crazy expensive that teachers regularly commute from far away, right? But then there are all these high poverty, low performing schools in the middle of the city. Where are all these poor families living and how can they afford it?[/quote]


Some live in Section 8 housing, some live in homes purchased decades ago by relatives, some live in very cramped quarters with 4 people to a room and some are homeless. [/quote]

Check out the salaries online, for example, if you look up the RUSD teachers they are making 120K plus. There is a pension fiasco that a lot of young families moving in are unaware of. A lot of the teachers live in near the schools they serve and buy into the culture, all white staff, students, community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC area schools are waaay better funded. The good Bay Area schools are like semi-private where they ask you to "donate" like $1300/child per year for thing like PE and art and music.

There are no magnet programs in most of the Bay Area schools. SF school district is a crap shoot. All lottery and there is only one really good HS (Lowell).

We moved out of the Bay Area in part due to the terrible school funding and lack of programs.

+1 We move to of Bay Area to DC as well. Miserable 7 years dealing with inadequate education, funding, mismanagement, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about schools in Pleasanton?

Decent but the commute is a bear. Wouldn't move here unless you work around Pleasanton. The places that I would recommend moving, you need 5 million plus for a home. 4 million will buy you a fixer upper. School districts: Atherton-Menlo, Palo Alto, Marin, San Mateo, Mountain View-Los Altos, Alcalanes, San Ramon. You will need to double check on Atherton-Menlo, Woodside Elementary School District. CA is a mess, you may find a good HS district but the elementary district isn't so strong. Best to find a k-12 school district, best for consistency in educational benchmarks and better on your pocket book for taxes. Imagine all the school bonds and parcel taxes passed times two districts!!

[Anonymous]

California schools are very underfunded due to th e low property taxes. The schools tend to lack librarians, nurses, and music.

[Anonymous]

The politics around school funding are strange too. In South Bay almost all the ballot measures for parcel taxes which would increase school funding failed while at the same time the overwhelming number of people who came out to vote, votes for Bernie Sanders. How do you vote for Sanders and then vote against a modest parcel tax for the schools. It wasn't seniors because people over 65 were exempt from the parcel tax so they could vote yes even though they would not incur the tax either way.