[quote=flu]Not following something about Generation X and Y being in debt prison. Last time I checked, I’m pretty close to debt free. Well, actually, I have a loan balance, but that’s because interest is low so it doesn’t necessarily make sense (for my specific case) to own outright.
Not sure about the history… Time/things change.. Perhaps not necessarily applicable.. But I do like how seems like the school district is just doing swanky well in areas where people can afford the mello ruse (sic) while a good portion of the rest of the state is having issues with the state budget crisis.. Time to start going to my alumni meets so my kid has the option of going to ivy’s…At this rate, cost might not be any different..[/quote](italics added)
flu, you are clearly the exception here. And my understanding is that your tract’s MR is not very high. (Correct me if I’m wrong.) I’m aware that a HUGE portion of MR is allocated the respective public school districts. If a young family only has a baby or toddler or a buyer’s children have already finished school, why pay MR years before you have to or years after your family doesn’t use the schools anymore! For that matter, why pay it at all? Is the difference is school services the MR buys really WORTH $2500 to $5000+ annually? The reason I ask this is because MR is not typically used for teacher salaries. It is used for infrastructure, maintenance and possibly programs (not sure about this).
In almost all the CA districts, the most experienced teachers with the most seniority are granted the work assignments of their choice. More often than not, these choices are schools in the the most established areas where families have the resources for school lunches, school trips, extracurricular activities, etc. These schools very often are in older (expensive) coastal areas.
Buying a family home in a well-established, well-heeled older urban area in CA coastal counties all but assures your child of a good education, sans the MR and transiency of a large portion of the student body, IMHO.
Going to your college alumni meetups is a good idea, just to cultivate professional relationships for yourself. Obviously, if you are ever in a position to leave an endowment to your alma mater, that might very well “assist” your kid in getting accepted. I would do so no more than two years before your kid applies to said university, so the “admissions board” has a crystal clear memory of it.
But flu, isn’t your kid only about 5 yrs old? It’s a bit soon to know what she would even want to major in or where she would want to go.
