I actually know of the magnet school you reference and knew a family whose son went there. Always heard praises for the program.
It has to be really hard to go from a great school to what you are experiencing now, because you have something to gauge it against.
As for Austin having mostly great schools ... I don't know if I completely agree with it, especially since I did my student teaching in the Austin ISD district, but my supervisor, who was the head of the department, was old school with all multiple choice technique and refused to change. But I totally agree that Austin does have some great magnet schools.
