3 ms·

Houses in Marin and the Peninsula are just as expensive, only slightly larger, and they get lots of kids. It's all about the schools.

by brd529 10y ago

johnny99 10y ago
Schools in SF are a mixed bag, but many of them are very good. We have a 6 and 9 year old, who started in a parochial school. We switched to a well-regarded local public school, and getting a fantastic education. Edit: after reading some other comments, I should note, the lottery system is problematic. We got lucky and got a good school near us, and SFUSD stats show most people get one of their top few choices. But in a worst-case scenario, you have a long commute to a bad school--and you leave. The intention is good--to make good schools available to everyone, not just those who can afford the good neighborhoods. But until you land your kids in a school you're ok with, it's a big stressor.
- brd529 10y ago
  The article mentioned Elizabeth Weise who I hadn't heard of, but just spent a good 30 minutes on her blog. It's excellent. Her "about" page summarizes why 1/3 of SF parents choose private schools. It's a pretty good proxy for why so many new parents move out before their kids are school age. She dug up another amazing stat: of all children born in San Francisco 1/4 will move out before kindergarten, 1/4 will go to private school and 1/2 will go to public school. The school district expects it's growth to be entirely from kids who live in public housing. http://elizabethweise.com/2014/03/21/1-in-3-san-francisco-school-aged-children-attends-private-school-a-look-into-san-franciscos-education-market/ http://elizabethweise.com/2014/03/21/1-in-3-san-francisco-sc...
- intrasight 10y ago
  The lottery should be used for placing teachers in school not students. And it should be illegal for parents to support individual schools. With those two policies, all schools will be average - which is how it should be.
- geebee 10y ago
  I agree with you. I currently have two kids in SFUSD as well. The lottery system has some problems, but also brings some benefits. I got lucky as well. However, I find a lot of people erroneously believe that San Francisco schools are generally bad, or that you have to really luck out to get a good school assignment. I'd say that SF schools are mixed. If you go onto "greatschools.net" and sort by test score, you'll find that SF has an unusually high number of very high performing schools for an urban district. It also has an alarming number of poorly performing schools. Here's the thing - do the same search on the peninsula or in marin, and you'll find essentially the same thing. The difference is that in SF, you can't automatically convert a high mortgage payment into guaranteed access to a top school. Nor does poverty condemn you to a poorly performing one. Although a good assignment is not guaranteed, it's hardly a long shot. The way the system worked when I was going through it is that you list 7 choices. If you create a good, balanced lists, and look for some good schools that are under the radar, you do have a good (but again, by no means guaranteed) crack at a decent placement. Of course, the reality is that high income people can and will leave if they don't get an assignment they like, so SF does lose families this way.
shostack 10y ago
Often more expensive in the Peninsula. And then you have situations like Redwood City where the schools are awful but you still have bad house prices and all you can do is hope that by the time a kid is old enough for school that the influx of new tax dollars from Prop 13 property taxes that were reset to market rates has given them enough budget so they don't suck as much when your kid is ready to enter. And don't forget that any new measures that help schools tend to try to be percentage based in terms of how taxes are assessed, so new owners disproportionately shoulder the burden of improving things while those who have been here the longest and arguably gotten the most value out of the system pay a pittance. The whole situation is horrible.
robterrell 10y ago
We picked Marin for the schools & to be close to nature. Lots of new neighbors are families from the city with young kids. There's a lottery here for new arrivals, so it's still a crapshoot, but the odds are better and even the least desired schools are good.

Houses in Marin and the Peninsula are just as expensive, only slightly larger, and they get lots of kids. It's all about the schools.

by brd529 10y ago

Houses in Marin and the Peninsula are just as expensive, only slightly larger, and they get lots of kids. It's all about the schools.

johnny99 10y ago

Schools in SF are a mixed bag, but many of them are very good. We have a 6 and 9 year old, who started in a parochial school. We switched to a well-regarded local public school, and getting a fantastic education. Edit: after reading some other comments, I should note, the lottery system is problematic. We got lucky and got a good school near us, and SFUSD stats show most people get one of their top few choices. But in a worst-case scenario, you have a long commute to a bad school--and you leave. The intention is good--to make good schools available to everyone, not just those who can afford the good neighborhoods. But until you land your kids in a school you're ok with, it's a big stressor.

brd529 10y ago
The article mentioned Elizabeth Weise who I hadn't heard of, but just spent a good 30 minutes on her blog. It's excellent. Her "about" page summarizes why 1/3 of SF parents choose private schools. It's a pretty good proxy for why so many new parents move out before their kids are school age. She dug up another amazing stat: of all children born in San Francisco 1/4 will move out before kindergarten, 1/4 will go to private school and 1/2 will go to public school. The school district expects it's growth to be entirely from kids who live in public housing. http://elizabethweise.com/2014/03/21/1-in-3-san-francisco-school-aged-children-attends-private-school-a-look-into-san-franciscos-education-market/ http://elizabethweise.com/2014/03/21/1-in-3-san-francisco-sc...
intrasight 10y ago
The lottery should be used for placing teachers in school not students. And it should be illegal for parents to support individual schools. With those two policies, all schools will be average - which is how it should be.
geebee 10y ago
I agree with you. I currently have two kids in SFUSD as well. The lottery system has some problems, but also brings some benefits. I got lucky as well. However, I find a lot of people erroneously believe that San Francisco schools are generally bad, or that you have to really luck out to get a good school assignment. I'd say that SF schools are mixed. If you go onto "greatschools.net" and sort by test score, you'll find that SF has an unusually high number of very high performing schools for an urban district. It also has an alarming number of poorly performing schools. Here's the thing - do the same search on the peninsula or in marin, and you'll find essentially the same thing. The difference is that in SF, you can't automatically convert a high mortgage payment into guaranteed access to a top school. Nor does poverty condemn you to a poorly performing one. Although a good assignment is not guaranteed, it's hardly a long shot. The way the system worked when I was going through it is that you list 7 choices. If you create a good, balanced lists, and look for some good schools that are under the radar, you do have a good (but again, by no means guaranteed) crack at a decent placement. Of course, the reality is that high income people can and will leave if they don't get an assignment they like, so SF does lose families this way.

shostack 10y ago

Often more expensive in the Peninsula. And then you have situations like Redwood City where the schools are awful but you still have bad house prices and all you can do is hope that by the time a kid is old enough for school that the influx of new tax dollars from Prop 13 property taxes that were reset to market rates has given them enough budget so they don't suck as much when your kid is ready to enter. And don't forget that any new measures that help schools tend to try to be percentage based in terms of how taxes are assessed, so new owners disproportionately shoulder the burden of improving things while those who have been here the longest and arguably gotten the most value out of the system pay a pittance. The whole situation is horrible.

robterrell 10y ago

We picked Marin for the schools & to be close to nature. Lots of new neighbors are families from the city with young kids. There's a lottery here for new arrivals, so it's still a crapshoot, but the odds are better and even the least desired schools are good.