That says more about the impoverished situations of many of the people in those communities than it does about the schools. And bickering about Common Core and

That says more about the impoverished situations of many of the people in those communities than it does about the schools. And bickering about Common Core and similar issues is a pastime across the whole country. Indeed, the intensity of the debate is a testament to the engagement of many, usually well-to-do, families in the city. Poor families have neither the time nor interest in having those debates. In poor rural communities the schools can also suck, but you'll never hear a peep of controversy because there's often only a single school and nobody capable or interested in critiquing the system. Our oldest is currently attending TK (transitional-kindergarten, for those who turn 5 between September and December) at a public school, we've toured several public and private schools for kindergarten already, and we've spoken extensively with other families in our neck of the city (north and west). There are dozens of schools in the system, but at least for primary school your kid will be just fine. The middle schools and high schools can have more problems, but again that's a reflection of larger social and economic problems that older students unfortunately bring into the classroom; you can't fix that stuff through school. The staffing and academic programs at the public schools are as good as anywhere, and in some areas unmatched. I recently attended an informational session for kindergarten enrollment at my son's school. I arrived and followed the signs to the room and sat down. When it began the principal asked, "who here only speaks English"? I raised my hand. She said, "the english language session is in the portable building", and I ended up in a room about the size of a walk-in closet. For the first half of the session, until some stragglers arrived, I was the only person there, so basically just had a one-on-one with the school official. The 15 or so parents in the main session all spoke Chinese, even though enrollment at the school is maybe half Chinese and this was the only night such a session was offered. (Which is to say, no other white, black, or latino families showed up.) All of which goes back to family life. Many in the Chinese community in the city are poor or working-class (only very recently have rich mainland Chinese began immigrating to SF), often immigrants or first or second generation, but they're extremely engaged academically and very demanding. It matters, both for their kids and the schools more generally.