The public school effect
NYT real estate section has a story called “The Sudden Charm of Public School.” It says cash-strapped formerly rich people are pulling their kids out of private school and moving to districts with good public schools. If true, could cause a rise in housing prices in good school districts and a drop in those without.
NYT real estate section has a story called “The Sudden Charm of Public School.”
It says cash-strapped formerly rich people are pulling their kids out of private school and moving to districts with good public schools.
If true, could cause a rise in housing prices in good school districts and a drop in those without.
CGFan…Thanks for reminding me of the options that are increasing in D15, and yes, we do plan on continuing our investment in the community as long as we can afford it. I’ve lived in Brooklyn my whole life and in CH since 1991 don’t want to ever leave. But I’ve made it this long only due to the generosity of an incredible landlord who understands the real value of a good tenant over market-rate rent (I count my blessings…).
CGfan: I’m not saying it can’t be done. Simply that the reason it’s tough to do is that even quite progressive people turn Darwinian when their own kids are involved. I don’t deny that it’s the sweat equity of middle class parents (and indeed committed parents from all socio-ecomomic classes) that makes the difference, but I am suggesting that things would improve even faster if many parents didn’t think about their offspring first and the rest of the neighborhoods second.
I think that this affects schools in so-called fringe areas more than the schools in areas that already had great public schools. Someone buying a home within the zoned area of a good school more than likely did so because they had all intentions of sending their children to that public school. P.S. 321 is just one example of that. Many parents who purchased homes in Ditmas Park and vicinity did so thinking that with the money saved on the mortgage/maintenance, that they would (and many did) send their kids to private schools. They are now enrolling their kids in either P.S. 139 or P.S. 217 which have both been steadily improving because of the work of middle class parents who have been there all the while. I can only imagine that the same is probably happening in Bed-Stuy,Williamsburgh and elsewhere.
As far as middle school, there are many good options like Mark Twain, Hudde, Bay Academy, etc… with more coming down the line.
1929 — How exactly do you think that every elementary that is currently desirable in Brooklyn became that way? Middle class parents put their sweat equity into improving the schools. If the DOE puts a good principal in place (which it will if it sees lots of potential families in the zone who won’t try the school) it can take 1 or 2 years. Witness PS 8 which is now way overcrowded with middle class families and the current 4th graders were the first large group of middle class parents to “try” the school when it had been underused and unpopular. It happened in PS 321 and at PS 29, and the rich families buying in the area are the beneficiaries of the first families who dedicated themselves to improving a so-so public school. So saying it can’t be done is silly because the fact that good zoned elementaries exist at all is because parents made sure the schools improved while their kids were still in them.
CHMomma — The same families that made 321 and 29 good long ago have already made sure there are good middle school options and while a small minority of kids do flee for private and suburbs, most of the graduates of the good elementaries in District 15 are staying there for middle school. Yes, it’s more competitive to get into the best ones (some of which are “tracked” for academically gifted kids) but that’s because more parents are staying public for middle school. When you say “I hope the new families stay in the neighborhood and make the investments” I hope you are including yourself. You can’t expect other parents to make it possible for you to stay, but you can expect to work together with other parents to keep making the schools better and better.
People have been tripping over each other for years to get their children (whether or not already born) zoned for PS 29. I think that is a major contributor for the increase in values here….I remember when this was the cheap alternative to Brooklyn Heights. Buying a place here can save you more than $150K in private school costs (conservatively estimated at $25K/year).
But as I prepare for my son to start kindergarten there in the fall, I’m already wondering what the options will be for middle school. I can only hope that the new families stay in the neighborhood and make the investments for the after-elementary options, instead of opting for the ‘burbs for grade 6 and on. If they do that now, they’ll make it possible for us to stay in 2015.
In an ideal world everyone would send their kids to public schools. No one wants to pay for private school. In reality, even in neighborhoods with sizable high income populations, if the public schools are bad no parent wants to sacrifice their kids to the long process of improving them. And really why should they, if they can afford a better alternative? It takes about 5 years to turn a school around — too long for anyone’s kids to reap the benefit. This is the same problem that educational issues face in the political system. Most terms of office are shorter than the time it takes for things to improve, ergo most politicians give education short shrift.
I don’t know for sure the overall effect of this on public schools. I do know that in our (good, but not famously top-tier) public school, fundraising has actually been up this year, which seems to be a function of those middle-to-upper-class families staying in public.
I suppose that as you have the wealthier families crowding the highest-demand publics, the not-quite-as-wealthy families start filling the next tier of schools and so on.
I agree it continues inequities, but I think it’s better for the public schools than those same families leaving NYC.
cat, nevertheless it’s good to have the upper and upper middle classes in public schools. They can demand things like high standards, and bring in a lot of funding that will help everybody.
Frankly, I think the real answer was buried in the article, it said something like it’s now ‘hip and cool’ to have your kids in public school.
There’s already been a severe impact. Several Bklyn parents I know were told their kids didn’t stand a chance at some of the magnet schools in Manhattan because of massive increase in applications from Manhattan residents.