4 ms·

Well, to anecdotally back you up, in Massachusetts with the #1 public schools in the country, I hear and see nothing about football. I think I hear more about t

Well, to anecdotally back you up, in Massachusetts with the #1 public schools in the country, I hear and see nothing about football. I think I hear more about the HS plays and concerts than HS football. The last football funding discussion at the town level was whether to fund better helmets to protect against CTE or make the players' parents pay for it, so the town isn't seen supporting/encouraging brain damage to children.

sndean 4y ago
And to add another anecdote, the overall #1 high school in the US in Virginia (by some rankings at least) doesn't have a football team. Sports like cross country get more attention.
- richwater 4y ago
  TJ might be one of the best high schools in the world not just VA.
- justsocrateasin 4y ago
  This anecdote is misleading. TJ is a magnet school with a formal application process. Students study for years to get into TJ. Although many of their sports teams are excellent, students don't go to TJ for sports - they just happen to be over-achieving outside of the classroom as well.
- acid__ 4y ago
  They had a football team when I attended ~10 years ago.
- throwaway0a5e 4y ago
  That's just a fancy way of having a proxy for "rich people". Football, baseball, basketball, hockey. Those are the sports of the unwashed masses. That a magnet school that attracts the students of wealthy parents who are deeply invested in their kids eduction doesn't have a sport the those demographics turn their nose up at <insert low effort quip about brain damage here> is expected. I bet they have rowing and lacross to make up for it.
prescriptivist 4y ago
I assume the #1 public schools in Massachusetts are Cambridge/Beacon Hill? There are many more reasons why they would be best in class than de-emphasizing football.
- AbrahamParangi 4y ago
  I went to an excellent suburban public high school (ranked 10th on this list https://www.bostonmagazine.com/education/best-public-high-schools-boston-2019-chart/ https://www.bostonmagazine.com/education/best-public-high-sc...) and I can corroborate the parent comment.
rkk3 4y ago
> Well, to anecdotally back you up, in Massachusetts with the #1 public schools in the country Maybe they have the "best overall public school systems" but looking at individual public high schools Massachusetts doesn't even make the list till #26 and then not again until #153 in the national rankings https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/search https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/search
throwaway0a5e 4y ago
>Massachusetts with the #1 public schools in the country, That's just lying with statistics. Adjust for parental income and see what you get. The state has few poor and rural areas to "drag the average down" so of course they look good. VA would look good too if they had the luxury of counting just NOVA and the coast in their stats.

sndean 4y ago

And to add another anecdote, the overall #1 high school in the US in Virginia (by some rankings at least) doesn't have a football team. Sports like cross country get more attention.

richwater 4y ago
TJ might be one of the best high schools in the world not just VA.
justsocrateasin 4y ago
This anecdote is misleading. TJ is a magnet school with a formal application process. Students study for years to get into TJ. Although many of their sports teams are excellent, students don't go to TJ for sports - they just happen to be over-achieving outside of the classroom as well.
acid__ 4y ago
They had a football team when I attended ~10 years ago.
throwaway0a5e 4y ago
That's just a fancy way of having a proxy for "rich people". Football, baseball, basketball, hockey. Those are the sports of the unwashed masses. That a magnet school that attracts the students of wealthy parents who are deeply invested in their kids eduction doesn't have a sport the those demographics turn their nose up at <insert low effort quip about brain damage here> is expected. I bet they have rowing and lacross to make up for it.

prescriptivist 4y ago

I assume the #1 public schools in Massachusetts are Cambridge/Beacon Hill? There are many more reasons why they would be best in class than de-emphasizing football.

AbrahamParangi 4y ago
I went to an excellent suburban public high school (ranked 10th on this list https://www.bostonmagazine.com/education/best-public-high-schools-boston-2019-chart/ https://www.bostonmagazine.com/education/best-public-high-sc...) and I can corroborate the parent comment.

rkk3 4y ago

> Well, to anecdotally back you up, in Massachusetts with the #1 public schools in the country Maybe they have the "best overall public school systems" but looking at individual public high schools Massachusetts doesn't even make the list till #26 and then not again until #153 in the national rankings https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/search https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/search

throwaway0a5e 4y ago

>Massachusetts with the #1 public schools in the country, That's just lying with statistics. Adjust for parental income and see what you get. The state has few poor and rural areas to "drag the average down" so of course they look good. VA would look good too if they had the luxury of counting just NOVA and the coast in their stats.