Have You Given up What You Have to Move to a Better School District?

I believe that most school accept out of district students. If you can get them to & from school, I'd look into that first, before moving to a more expensive area.

Is there a private school option? It may be better than the expense of moving and higher tax level.

If you want your programs to get better, you need to get out there and work for them. You can get a decent education out of any public school system in the US. If you need funding - get out there and find a way to get it. If you need instruments for your music program -- get out there and find a way to get them donated. All of this stuff takes time and money.
If the parents don't act like music, art, or science is important, then they cut programs.
Don't move... fix it.
I've been fundraising since my children were in pre-school. Our high school band needs $40k a year to run our program. We find a way to earn it, get it donated, and make do. You can do it, too.
LBC

Hmmmmm. We moved to an area like you describe, we pay lots for everything, and our yard is over an acre too. My kids mostly mow it and weed eat, pull weeds, my hubby does everything else in the yard, but they still help him, and they get so ticked all the time when it's yard time. They are, and always have been workers. But as they are getting older, they always complain about the yard work. Come to think of it, they complain about helping in general. Must be a teen thing. I'd think especially if they were girls, they might not need as big a yard, unless they are softball players. Good luck in your decision!!!

If you really don't like where you live then look for a better school district. However, education is up to the parents. Museums, reading books together, trips to the zoo, Omni, children's plays and to dance theatre are all up to the parents. You live where the second best dance company in America is headquartered Oregon Ballet Theatre. Take them to the performances. I drove up to take my grandson. I always took my daughters to plays, the ballet, ethnic dance companies that were performing and to art exhibits.
If you can afford it go to Vancouver, BC. My kids and I camped there all over and went to different parts of Victoria and BC. Also I took them to almost every state in the USA.
So. The school district didn't matter as much as learning experiences provided by their family. We also visited our family and that too is a learning experience.

I could have written this post. Word for word..... We left the home we love in June. We sold our house after being on the market 7 months. We took over 10k to the table, and was very sad. Our schools were taken over my the state. My daughters Kindergarten year was sitting in 1 teachers room the entire year. No music, no gym, no library, no art. Nothing. We knew it was time to go. Open enrollment isn't available here where we live. There is no choice.

We purchased a house in a fantastic district with lots of businesses and support from the community. We had our 1st grade orientation just yesterday, and I in awe of the new school. The atmosphere, the things they offered. The library was phenomenal. The art room was a kids dream room, the outdoor play area and cafeteria were brand new. I knew in that moment that we made the BEST decision of our lives. I am looking forward to what this year holds for us!

What would I do? I've answered that. Your children can experience so much more elsewhere. Selling your home may be the issue with this economy. We lucked out that people were even looking in our area.

Good luck!

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Is there a way you could supplement the missing education at home? Music lessons, for example, or taking advantage of community music recitals? Enjoy art museums together as a family...sometimes they have classes for children. I know your local bookstore (or amazon) will have wonderful "science at home" books; I got one for my sons because school wasn't doing enough experiments. Family bike rides, hikes or walks?

Another alternative is to look into a "variance." Sometimes districts will accept out of district kids if the family applies. Our district does. A call to the district office will answer that question.

This is a tough one. I wish you luck on your decision!

Sometimes you can do an open enrollment. Call the surrounding districts to find out.

I would move. Private school is expensive and even though we are paying FULL tuition, it is not perfect and not as good as we thought.
It is superior in every way to our public schools so we are staying.
We have the chance to build a new house. The taxes are 1/2 outside the city, but then we have to drive. In the city we have .20 acres instead of 1 or 2 acres. We have noticed our child is 9 and she is not using the yard much. Her friends in the country play on the driveway and on the swings mostly. Many have a trampoline, some have pools, and most sell the playground when the youngest is 9 or 10.

If you love your home and the area, I would look into Private education first. Do you have Charter schools in your area (receive public money, but are not subject to some of the same rules and regulations the states put on the public schools), they are free, but sort of "private." We live in an area with great school districts, but we have chosen to send our kids to a private school for the 1st few years because we want a stronger educational foundation, smaller class sizes and more discipline. We will not keep them there for ever for multiple reasons, but right now we are trying to do what's best for them educationally without having to change our lifestyle too much.

I've made the move ✿

I don't know what I would do. But, Some things to condsider. You moved for a school district once and it didn't work out. Cuts to programs are happening all over and a lot of funding comes from the State, that's definately been cut. Nothing sayng in a year or two this district will cut programs too. Property taxes are high, but will be higher in the better school district. Have you considerd "blooming where you are planted?" getting involved in the local community colleges' programs for the arts for the kids? Supplementing the gym experience by joining dance, gymnastics, league sports and the Y? Get involved in your area, try to make the most of it, maybe.

We moved to Lake Oswego from Portland... not sure how the schools are yet, but just talking with the secretary and the pricipal (he personally called me during the summer to answer a non-important question - certianly could have waited until the secretary returned) and then touring the school have my confidence in the programs out here. I also volunteered at a Lake O high school for awhile too, and must say that school impressed me immesely. I have been working on a teaching certification, but have put it on hold for the time being because of the lack of funding for schools (especially in the arts, which is what I would be going into) and the worry that I wouldn't be able to get a job, but would spend roughly $30K to get the certification (YUCK). However, working on that and meeting teachers has given me a lot of insight into the school situations here, and I'd say get out of PPS and don't go into some areas outside of that on the East side (Reynolds, DDSD, etc). However, the school that my daughter went to last year in SW Portland (Bridlemile) was AWESOME (class size of 19!!) and in PPS district. They have a lot of private funding, and therefore hadn't cut music/arts/sciences/etc YET. I hope they have retained those programs again this year. If you stay in Portland, I would highly recommend that neighborhood. Now, in Lake Oswego, we don't have a huge yard (basically a patio and two planters), but live walking distance to several parks... which I don't have to personally maintain either... :-) I like the idea of having a yard, but not so much in Portland where it's hard to enjoy it most of the time! Good luck!

Do you have school choice? The opportunity to enroll your children in a school outside of your district? You might look at that option before deciding on moving.

Yes, definately I would move for a better school for my children. I grew up in an average middle class home but my parents sent me to a private school because the public schools were so bad. My husband and I are fortunate to live where the public school district and our neighborhood school is very good. If we lived in an area where the schools where not very good we would either move to a better district or look at a private school. Sometimes we have to put our children first. Just a thought.

S.

We made that move and are happy with the decision. It is expensive, but worth it. I like living in the same community as the school, so private or out of district schools weren't an option for us. You get more for the property taxes too. Lots of trails through the woods to explore, great parks, fun swim park by the lake, etc. The kids are very fortunate to live here for as long as we can manage. There are very reasonable town houses and smaller homes with plenty of space...especially if they are close to a park. There are some new affordable town homes going in by our L.O. school that are really cute and are super close to the park. Made me wish I had done that and didn't have my huge mortgage. ;)