Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton
My impression is that NYC schools don't really stink as far as big city schools go. If your kid is smart and/or talented, they'll get shuttled into gifted programs or merit based magnet schools, and basically not interact much with the vast masses in the NYC School District at all. Certainly the people I have known who had kids while living in NY mostly didn't leave do to concerns about public schools, but concerns about space.
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NYC public schools are generally considered the "best" of the legacy cities (which isn't saying much). They've traditionally had the highest big-city test scores (probably due to higher proportional presence of certain high-achieving immigrant groups).
The district is gigantic (over 1.1 million students) and bureaucratic, and has failing ghetto schools like everywhere else, but there are also tons of test-in magnet schools, and good opportunities if you know how to navigate the system. My wife and I could comfortably afford private school, but we plan on public for our child. We both have advanced degrees from "elite" schools and have similar expectations for our child.
And, yeah, pretty much everyone I know who moves to the burbs is motivated by more space for the money, and access to "child care" (aka grandparents). A lot of the really "hot" suburbs (Montclair & Maplewood in NJ, the Westchester Rivertowns) don't have terrific schools, while a lot of the lagging ones way the hell out (Dix Hills, St. James, Stony Brook, Wilton, Weston) have the highest test scores.