I agree wtih most of what you say Bugs. With that much money to spend – look elsewhere. There are some wonderful neighborhoods with even better schools in Del Mar, Poway, Solana Beach, olde LaJolla, Carmel Valley, Rancho Santa Fe. Location location location – as they say…. With CA schools being in the lowest three in the nation just above LA and MS, and with $2M to spend on a home….. i would not settle for elementary schools in the top tenth percentile for the state. I would go for the top 2. I’d take a long hard look at the junior and senior high schools as well.
I disagree about the schools being what you make of them. You can try and try and try to help your children through classes, but if their teachers do not have a firm grasp of the subjects, the curriculum demands little from the kids, equipment for labs, etc is inadequate and constantly being cut back, or the more advanced topics are not even offered… then what?
There are many many people leaving CA because of the schools alone (we are one such family). I was appalled at the continual “changes” in my kids schools each year due to budget cuts. How can you take away music and art? Science labs on the cheap?