Personally, we happen to be in a great situation with a fabulous public school. Like you guys, school districts and ratings were never important when moving and choosing a place to live. Until this last move, that is. Before coming back to SC, I spent countless hours researching schools and talking to old friends from the area about public schools. I want my kids to go to public school. For one reason, we are saving for college (which I can’t fathom the tuition by the time we get there). I also want my kids to interact with kids from all walks of life and different ethnic backgrounds. I also believe many kids develop an elitist outlook when they spend years in private school and if I raise children with a sense of entitlement I will feel I have failed miserably as a parent. So, I selected two public elementary schools that were well regarded and we only looked for houses in those districts. It was a stroke of luck timing-wise for us to have that luxury, and we took full advantage. Natalie’s school is well run, well supported and has an amazingly active PTA organization. Since we live in a historic area downtown, there is a mix of very affluent families but also lower income children who live nearby.

I don’t know specifically how to fix the education system in America. But I have to believe if enough parents insist on improvements and changes, we can work together to develop a better system for all students – not just the ones who’s parents figure out how to “play the system” to the benefit of their own children, as we have selfishly done.

Btw, BW: You’re always talking like you have to one day leave Pasadena. STOP it!! Your little girl is now a little young lady from Pasadena, remember!!

Berkeley is another city that is similar to Pasadena in some ways and different in others. It’s approx the same size and also home to a (much larger) prestigious university and the intelligentsia that support it. Within the city there is multi-generational entrenched poverty; new immigrants from far-flung places speaking hundreds of languages; educated folks scraping by as they make a living running community theater programs; affluent folks with a hot off the press patent for something or other; middle class folks like my nurse aunt and teacher uncle; and finally – some of the premier sociology/ethnic studies/women’s studies/urban studies minds in the country.

Here’s the rub – you have this incredible brew of folk who decry snobbery, fully support boosting opportunities for underprivileged students, buy sustainable soap from Africa at their local market, understand that you can’t expect uneducated, working parents to be able to participate in school choice initiatives with the same gusto as Berkeley professors… And – they have kids. And, though some parents are not willing to have their kids be part of the experiment, the vast majority are, otherwise they should just paint a Scarlet H (for hypocrite) on their front lawn. So they send their kids to their neighborhood elementary school, then to one of the handful of middle schools (starting to mix the kids, uh oh!), and then finally to Berkeley High, practically it’s own city.

I’ve always thought that Berkeley school board meetings must be some of the most interesting in the country. Here’s an example of a recent issue up there. Berkeley High, population 4000-5000 students (gang members to Nobel laureate progeny), has $X to spend. There are two programs in contention. One is a 0 period session for a highly regarded science and math program for the school’s best and brightest. This is fully supported by the technically inclined parents who feel that the science curriculum is really being dumbed down to make it accessible to all students. While this is good for all of those students, the kids with real science and math aptitude ought to have a chance to develop their knowledge in depth.

The second program is also 0 period. It will provide counselors to lead “life skills” training and will provide transition-to-college support for the school’s best and brightest – who happen to come from the most blighted neighborhoods. Without this support, these kids are unlikely to transfer their high school experiences to college success given the poverty and lack of family resources.

Now. What do you do? I have no idea what came of this, I was reading about it in a local paper in Berkeley last time I was there.

I take a couple of things from examining Berkeley and Pasadena. First of all, Berkeley parents are generally willing to put their money (or in this case, their kid) where their mouth is. The city somehow manages to fund programs that support all sorts of niche interests. There is tremendous parent involvement in the system – not necessarily in the classroom, but in all aspects of the public education process – they are invested. Whether the decision be about funding enrichment programs, teaching yoga for PE, learning South Asian percussion instruments instead of “WASP” Mozart in music, or debating whether singing Silent Night has any place in a public school choral concert, these parents hash it out.

I’m a non-Pasadena resident who attended a Pasadena private (high) school. Many of my classmates did not come from Pasadena. They came from Arcadia, South Pas, LA, San Marino, and Alhambra. So I sort of wonder, where is this great private school chasm that’s swallowing all of Pasadena’s affluent youth? My cousin Caity transferred from a private school to PHS and is now a sophomore at Berkeley and is doing well there. Several of her PHS classmates are there as well. Her older brother and sister went to private schools and my (totally hippie Altadena) aunt and uncle constantly remarked how much Caity seemed to enjoy her PHS experience compared to her siblings’. I have no idea how good PUS is at educating it’s entire population, but for my cousin, it was a life changing experience to get out of the insular, homogeneous, “manufactured” environment of private school and into something vigorous, edgy, and choatic at public school. She was so excited about her new opportunity that she joined the renowned music department to be on the school’s drum line – never a possibility at private school.

“More than one person told us matter-of-factly that “no one who is white sends their kids to Pasadena public schools.” Usually this is followed by PUS are the worst. I would include asian in that mix as well. Pasadena is all about it’s private schools and god forbid you bring up the notion of increased property taxes to keep public schools afloat.

excellent post
really impressive. I hope you find a way to stay on the boat. The PTA needs you