The fact that people use "good public schools" as code for "public schools with as few poor kids, special needs kids, and English learners as possible" is always telling.

Teaching a bunch of upper-middle class kids from highly-educated, well-resourced, English-native-speaking backgrounds is playing the game on Easy Mode. It's not particularly impressive to get good metrics if that's your student base.

You’re getting downvoted for a reasonable concern. Mikes is good, no doubt, but they definitely charge an arm and a leg. They quoted me $3.5k to redo the clear coat on my bumper and trunk lid

Private schools.

I agree. The state publishes MCAS scores by school/grade level, and then by subgroup (low income, non-low income, race, gender, EL status). I can see that my child is scoring way higher than their classroom’s scaled MCAS score. I wonder what the distribution of MCAS scores is, in a given classroom.

https://profiles.doe.mass.edu/mcas/subgroups2.aspx?linkid=25&orgcode=00350020&fycode=2022&orgtypecode=6&

I agree. I know families who are thrilled with their children’s schools despite lower ratings. Specifically in Charlestown I have been impressed with the elementary schools. The ratings are really the most shallow way to look at the schools.

Today’s Collision in Malden. I think I remember seeing a flyer for painless when I was last in there a few weeks ago. They did an awesome job on my vehicle.

Somerville is mostly 30s no kids who don't care about the school system and West Medford is mostly upper middle class with young kids that are mostly preschool. Same can be said for East Watertown with new buyers. Often both groups will either move to Belmont, Lexington or Newton for both more space but also better ranked schools - if they can afford it, which for people who bought the past 2 years I doubt so anytime soon unless household income is $400K+.

Personally, I'd do Everett or Brighton 10 times before even considering Somerville. Way too dense, and not in a nice way. Medford was a hidden gem that's discovered and property values there will keep going up for years to come. Malden will absorb the cash from those that are now priced out of Medford but still looking for somewhat similar access to the city although the orange line is a huge bonus for sure

North beacon Auto. Ask for Jason

Dewire Brothers Auto Body in Newton

The law of supply and demand.

🤯

In my experience "good school system" is just what white people say instead of "mostly white”

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Most BPS elementaries are fine for kids who have strong support at home.

If you can't afford to have kids because your house was so expensive what do you care about schools.

Many people who live in those towns are sending their children to private school

Wait!! You’re surprised to hear that location matters in real estate?

Prices are high near major cities with booming economic activity. Color me shocked

Rich people who live in Cambridge and want to send their kids to school in Cambridge would send them to BBN

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/law-of-supply-demand.asp

On the one hand, I was thinking that maybe despite relatively high revenue, that those towns might be underspending on their public schools.

Or, it's also possible that the money being spent on the schools, however much it is, just is not being spent wisely or effectively.

...

For example, I went to HS in Dracut, and while I was there, the athletic teams got a larger chunk of the school's budget than some entire academic departments.

Somerville and Medford high schools are still ranked in the top 50% of schools in the state by US News, and Massachusetts has the #1 schools in the country.

School districts with socioeconomic diversity will tend to do worse in school rankings compared to school districts where everyone is wealthy, but many people put value on being in a diverse community, even if they could afford to live somewhere less diverse.

And even those with children consider more factors than just the school ranking when deciding where to live.

You have no idea what you are talking about. There does not exist a school called Boston Rindge and Latin.

Buying in Eastie guarantees your child a BPS assignment in Eastie, and the schools here are good to great.

But a lot of people buy for Eastie not for BPS assignment but for quality of life. Airplane noise, especially in Jeffries Point, is basically nonexistent and the neighborhood feeling/vibe is great. Very quiet, peaceful, and family friendly.

I’m am administrator at a school. School ratings are directly correlated to socio-economic factors and are usually bullshit. The greatest indicator of academic achievement is high income (resources for tutoring and extracurriculars) parental involvement, and behavioral accountability. As a result, if you have all three your children will be successful in any school district including those you mentioned as well as even poorer districts like Lynn or Lawrence.