Reply to Do people lie about FARMS?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]One thing that puzzles me is the huge discrepancy between FARM rates for certain schools and the poverty rate and median income figures from the census.   Whenever I have looked at schools in the area, there seems to be huge differences.  Take Lee HS and the Springfield CDP (which basically covers only central Springfield, not west Springfield).  As I recall, the FARMs rate at Lee HS is around 50%, but the census numbers for he Springfield CDP say the poverty rate is something like 7% with a median household income around $90k.  What accounts for such a significant difference? [/quote]

In the Lee HS area specifically (although I dont know exactly the boundary lines so I apologize if my assumptions are bordering into Edison/W Springfield/Hayfield territory), I would guess that the discrepancy is because of several factors that result the phenomenon of a higher income for families w/o school aged kids + lower income for those w/school aged kids:

First, because it is an older neighborhood there are many families whose children have grown up--they have lived there forever.  So these families likely have a higher income simply due to age.  I'm in my late 30s and when I was in school, Lee didnt suck as bad as it did now.  Plenty of people I know's parents still live where they always have--schools dont matter anymore so they have no reason to move. So you get high income from this group but no FARMS because no school aged kids.

Second, there a lot of townhomes/condos that are likely inhabited by single people/couples w/no kids/families w/kids who arent in school yet... Granted there are a lot of older garden style apartments that are going to feed into the high FARMS rate and increase the poverty level.  But I'm talking about the newer condos/apartments.  A high income for these families seems believable.

So, while the single family houses zoned for Lee are pretty...modest...leading to the FARMs rate being 50%, there are plenty of households w/non-school-aged children who are doing just fine.[/quote]

This. I have no problem believing Lee is legitimately 50% FARMS and not because anyone is lying about it. The area off Backlick, near Fresh World, that feeds into Lee is quite poor and it isn't the only poor area feeding into Lee.

PP's explanation is probably most likely, but otherwise I would be inclined to believe that either certain areas are not considered part of Springfield CDP for whatever reason, OR they're not counting the people there properly. Undocumented immigrants do not necessarily participate in the census. [/quote]

You should google Springfield CDP boundary map if you want to see the boundaries.  If anything, the numbers for the Springfield CDP should be worse than the Lee HS numbers because the Springfield CDP does not include the Saratoga area which is probably the wealthiest area that feeds into Lee.  The reasons mentioned certainly explain some of the differences in the numbers, but the discrepancy is big enough that I'm not willing to conclude that part of the difference could also be attributable to families claiming eligibility for FARMs even if they don't actually meet the income requirements.[/quote]

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