Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Moving for a school - is that crazy?

I would agree that it's not crazy, but it certainly hasn't been a factor at all in our decision-making. We had no clear expectation of children who were NT, MG, HG, 1e, 2e, or anything else when we chose a place of residence (though >= MG did seem reasonably likely, and I had a suspicion that another e might be in play, based on family history). We did, however, know what the range of services was in the general area--and that it would range from good to horrific for disabilities, and better-than-average to horrific for GT (stronger services for both exceptionalities being in the same school district). We also knew that the better property values were not going to line up with the better services, due to the inability of the general public to do accurate data analysis.

Which is why we began community selection with other criteria, always reserving private and homeschooling as options.

We happened to end up in a community with a strong educational reputation, so we also get to smile vaguely when others laud our public schools.

Based on my experience in the Boston suburbs, when you move to an area with a reputation for great public schools, you may be disappointed, but the many disappointed parents seeking more create a large market for afterschool programs, some of which, such as contest math programs, are suitable for gifted children. I have asked a few of the afterschool organizers about how to advocate for acceleration in the public schools, and they typically say that public school math classes should be regarded as social experiences. This outlook is consistent with the Serenity Prayer and not coincidentally preserves the market for afterschools.

Sounds like someone who lives in my city, where the city is known for it's good schools yet the mayor owns one of those afterschool tutoring centers.

...and is excellent for the most skilled public school teachers, who can then supplement their teacher pay with tutoring/afterschooling income. Not unlike the Taiwanese system, where the entire system tacitly is designed around nonproductive warehousing during the school day (class sizes of 70+ not uncommon), followed by intensive, income-differentiated afterschooling, with instruction by largely the same teachers you had during the day.