Ammo Jon
Ultimate Member
- Mar 3, 2008
- 21,039
What is the "best possible education"? I think I need to figure that one out. Will my kids really end up with less of an education in Carroll County versus Howard County, versus Bethesda/Chevy Chase? Will it be better for them to grow up in a much more rural, conservative setting, versus a much more crowded liberal setting?
There is a lot that goes into a child's total education, and it isn't just math, English, social studies, and science.
I know the oldest three are pretty smart, at least according to HoCo test results, report cards, etc. My son scored as high as possible on the Cogat exam for GT and my daughter tested just barely high enough to get into GT.
Will they really be worse off somewhere else.
Then, we can get into the entire private school thing and how my buddies went to private school at Good Counsel but could barely crack 900 on the SAT back in the late 80's. They could not get into UMCP, but I got accepted to UMCP on an early decision and the letter arrived in the mail on Christmas Eve.
Would it be better for me to save money on property taxes and put that money in a 529 plan so my kids can go to college and graduate debt free?
Lots of variables here, and I am not a firm believer that private school is all it is cracked up to be. Heard too much about a private school "B" being the equivalent of a public school "A" while growing up, and then seeing too many private school kids at Montgomery College and other colleges that I deemed lesser than where me and my high school friends went. Then again, maybe I was just hanging out with the morons that went to Good Counsel and the brightest that went to Springbrook.
I would have to look at the overall graduation rate, college attendance rate, etc., which my wife has been doing for Carroll County schools versus Howard County schools. She has given me the green light on Carroll County schools in that regard. I just want to make sure that we are not stepping into a pile of poo like we did here in HoCo after she gave me the green light for western Howard County.
I mean, to move here and then read the county ordinances about firearms threw me for a loop. I know there is nothing like that in Carroll County. The past couple of election cycles here has been disheartening too.
There is a lot I do not like right now about Howard County. At first, I was devoting a lot of time, effort, and money into fighting this stuff. However, I think it is a lost cause here. So, I have to decide if it makes sense to stay here and live with it or to go elsewhere, and the schools are a part of that decision.
My main worry was that we would be moving to Carroll and I would be right back into redistricting issues, "equity" stupidity, etc. with the school system. That does not seem to be the case though based upon the replies I have seen here.
No deductions for excessively long book reports?