Why are Boston Public Schools so bad? (Cambridge, Quincy: car insurance, home)

[Guineas]

Originally Posted by sharencare

Since this is a thread about Boston, I would point out that two dozen or so students get accepted into Harvard from Boston Latin School every year, not to mention the other impressive, highly selective colleges. But 1 in 3 students at BLS is economically disadvantaged, and 52% of the school are minorities.

How many of those from BLS to Harvard are affirmative action admissions? I'm totally serious in my question. My concern is that my children don't belong to an affirmative action ethnicity nor are they economically disadvantaged, so BLS may quote impressive college admissions statistics but are they relevant for me? Is the school and preparation actually good or is the politics (that won't apply to my kids) good?

[CaseyB]

Originally Posted by Dm84

That's what 10 year olds do...regardless of where they live lol

No they don't. And responsible parents don't let them out by themselves at night.

[semiurbanite]

Originally Posted by CaseyB

No they don't. And responsible parents don't let them out by themselves at night.

Actually i agree, they don't. And they don't in my Somerville neighborhood either - ever. And we have more than 10 kids living within a 200ft radius of our house.

[Whatsnext75]

I wouldn't have dreamed of saying the F word when I was 10. I'm not sure I even knew of the word. I find myself saying it sometimes now though.

Sadly there will always be this problem with education and this caste system so to speak. It comes down to brains and money. Seems like you need to have both in order to be successful. Sometimes having one or the other is ok, but if you have neither forget about it. it's such a rat race. I really question having children because of this sometimes. God forbid they had a learning disability or didn't get into the private school of the or choice. Seems like these things can make or break a family these days.

[wolfgang239]

Originally Posted by semiurbanite

Unfortunately gentrification is rampant here in Somerville........

.......Of course, our backup plan if we are not happy with the high schools when we get there in 7 years, is to move 2 blocks to Cambridge and send the kids to Rindge and Latin.

Sorry, I said I wouldn't post again but these two sentences in the same response made me chuckle.

Again, good luck!

[pennyone]

Originally Posted by Guineas

How many of those from BLS to Harvard are affirmative action admissions? I'm totally serious in my question. My concern is that my children don't belong to an affirmative action ethnicity nor are they economically disadvantaged, so BLS may quote impressive college admissions statistics but are they relevant for me? Is the school and preparation actually good or is the politics (that won't apply to my kids) good?

Also, why is it a big deal that two handful of kids from Boston Latin get accepted to Harvard? The school is a test based and highly competitive high school. You might argue it is the best public high school in Boston. So, given Boston's size, why is it so surprising to have BLS graduates go to Harvard or anywhere else? There's nothing to gloat about here. It's got the pick of the litter from Boston's entire school kids population, for pete's sake.

[miu]

Originally Posted by Dm84

That's what 10 year olds do...regardless of where they live lol

Not dropping F-bombs out of their mouths constantly. Kids that live in the city tend to pick up all kinds of ebonic slang and use it in their every day speech. But growing up in the suburbs, ghetto mannerisms are used but much more sparingly.

I also think that growing up in a city makes kids into adults too soon. It's easier to hold on to being a kid in the suburbs. And I think that at least the suburbs aren't as boring for children as a really rural setting would be.

My Chinese friend that grew up in Brookline loves to talk like a gangsta. While he can turn it on and off, he also likes to tag buildings. I'm so glad that I was able to grow up in Concord!

[Guineas]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/op...cans.html?_r=0

"A similar injustice is at work today, against Asian-Americans. To get into the top schools, they need SAT scores that are about 140 points higher than those of their white peers."

[UKWildcat1981]

Originally Posted by Guineas

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/op...cans.html?_r=0

"A similar injustice is at work today, against Asian-Americans. To get into the top schools, they need SAT scores that are about 140 points higher than those of their white peers."

I agree with that and same with Jews. Why are Jews and Asians who dominate the Ivy League's held to a higher standard then other minorities, I don't get America and the colleges here.

[semiurbanite]

Originally Posted by Guineas

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/op...cans.html?_r=0

"A similar injustice is at work today, against Asian-Americans. To get into the top schools, they need SAT scores that are about 140 points higher than those of their white peers."

Admissions are not all about SAT scores, especially at Harvard where they could fill the school with perfect SAT scores, but instead they look at other factors. Everyone knows extra-curricular activities are a factor in admissions.