Are Schools a Factor in your Home Buying Decision
According to researchers, local schools bring a plethora of benefits to a community beyond creating educated residents. The better the schools, the more satisfied residents are with their towns; this applies whether they have children attending the schools or not. Schools are a big factor with families who want to put down roots and build a life in a town.
School expenditures are financed with both state and local contributions. Lisa Barrow and Cecilia Rouse examined 1980 to 1990 changes in property values resulting from changes in state aid for schools that arise only from changes in state financing formulas. Their results suggest that a $1 increase in per pupil state aid increases aggregate per pupil housing values. However, the link between funding for schools and higher property values largely depends on improved school performance.
School rankings change from year to year. It is interesting to watch them evolve. The two sources I have been using over the years for school rankings are Niche and US News. They have different criteria for their rankings and somewhat different results.
Niche ranking is based on rigorous analysis of academic and student life data from the U.S. Department of Education along with test scores, college data, and ratings collected from millions of Niche users. Here is their most current information for high school rankings for Missouri:
The highest ranked U.S. public schools in U.S. News & World Report’s 2021 Best High Schools rankings are those whose students demonstrated outstanding outcomes above expectations in math and reading state assessments, earned qualifying scores in an array of college-level exams, and graduated in high proportions. Here are their high school rankings for the top 10 in Missouri:
To see how your school ranks with US News, click here. To see the Niche rankings for your particular school, click here.
Community Schools
While writing this article I came across several mentions of Community Schools. Community Schools are described as a local engagement strategy that creates and coordinates opportunities with its public school to accelerate student success. It serves as a vehicle for hyper-local decision-making that responds to the unique needs of each community.
By bringing together the relationships and assets of a neighborhood, Community Schools can efficiently and effectively utilize resources to advance the well-being of children and their families now and for future generations. I am trying to find out what it’s all about.
It seems that Community Schools may be a replacement product for “No Child Left Behind”. The vision is that all children deserve a safe place to live, support and opportunity to learn, and encouragement to lead ethically.
I have found a little information from three different sources: Knight Foundation, NEA (National Education Association). IEL (Institute for Educational Leadership) has played a role in policy matters in the development of the strategy for Community Schools
If anyone has more information on this federally funded program, please let me know.
This article gives more information on choosing a school for your needs.
