I’ll bust an HBO, The Wire quote, “It’s all connected.” Determining the API of the three schools (elem, middle, high) for a particular house is very relevent, especially for those who aren’t familiar with the underbelly of a particular area. If the elementary and middle school scores are high but the high school scores fall significantly, it reveals that a lower class neighborhood is nearby. This pulls values down for R/E and increases other problems not just for selling but for living there. Most people visit just the neigborhood they are interested in but fail to realize they share a grocery store, park, high school or other things with people they would rather not be near, nor will the eventual buyer of that property when they choose to sell.

Spare me the diversity comments and anectodtal stories, just look at it from a purely financial perspective because that is all I am pointing to. Race isn’t relevent here, demographics are. Show me a elem, mid and high school boundary with no apartments and the API will be high, thus the property values will be also, even for people with no kids. It’s about not being near poor and uneducated people when buying real estate and API is an indicator, not the only one but a fairly reliable one. Look further into the state’s api reporting and you can see the percentage of free lunch kids, english learners and education level of the parents. That always translates into API scores and that is relevent in valuing real estate. If you do nothing else other than buy in a trifecta of high api, you will be better off in maintainig value in your r/e. Just like people avoid or factor in mello roos when comparing properties, they factor in private school for houses in stabby school areas.

The drawback to this theory is it makes for mediocre h/s football teams at best. When I watch my son’s team lose and engage in conversation with fellow parents someone always comments that the other team appears larger. I remind them that if you send your kid to a school with a high api, a low “grub stub” percentage(read: free lunch) and a low english language leaner number, you lose games (these numbers are available from the state’s website). All of this hurts the football teams. While they may see different skin colors on the team, being a minority does not translate into football prowess when the minorities are rich and smart, they become as mediocre as the white boys, it’s just the way of things. So buy a house in the best school district you can afford, just be prepared to lose some football games. It won’t kill you.