bostonbubble.com

[Guest]

School Digger ranks Acton at number 37/332 with a significant amount of other districts/towns in the general area ahead of it that have a far lower tax rate. Who knows how accurate schooldigger.com really is?? Anycase here is the link.

http://www.schooldigger.com/go/ma/districtrank.aspx


Rank (of 332) District # Students # Ranked Elementary Schools # Ranked Middle Schools # Ranked High Schools Rank score*
31 Shrewsbury 5896 4 0 1 0.902
32 Sherborn 484 1 0 0 0.895
33 Sturgis Charter Public (District) 352 0 0 1 0.894
34 Sharon 3409 3 1 1 0.891
35 Lynnfield 2339 2 1 1 0.889
36 Newton 11700 15 4 2 0.887
37 Acton 2584 5 0 0 0.882
38 Brookline 6168 8 0 1 0.879
39 Bedford 2342 1 1 1 0.876
40 Hingham

[melonrightcoast]

my own life experiences have highlighted the negatives of not attending very good-to-excellent schools. and many of you are from here and don't need extra space to house aging parents for several weeks. and some of you (like Brian C) have access to people and/or knowledge for home improvements, which makes renovating an old house feasible.

if you don't like the tax rate in Acton, simple, don't buy here! but i do personally know one family that has bought here (and one is still looking) after I told them about the schools . that said, if we had decided to just have one child, we probably would have bought a renovated, but smaller place, closer in and just paid for private school (if necessary).

i'm sure all of you have had different experiences and skills than i have and base your decisions based on those. as it has been said before (and not just by me), to each their own.
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melonrightcoast ... are you?

[john p]

I think you're right for sure. Your post is just tuning the dial to the more accurate spot.

I grew up in a town that had a school system in the top 20 in the State and my parents still chose to send me to a private high school. I was an adrenaline junkie and was hanging out with the wrong kids and my mind was abstract and moved way too fast and was totally turbulent to focus. I told my father that I didn't want to go to this all boys school because there weren't any girls and then he grabbed my ears and started banging my head against the wall and then I said "I'll go, I'll go". I remember my second day in class when the teacher came to my desk and asked if I had done the homework and I said "No, I didn't feel like doing it". I thought I was going to get a good laugh and instead everyone looked at me like I was a loser. I remember doing 2 out of 12 homework assignments in Biology class freshman year and on teacher/parent night I told my parents to avoid speaking with the Biology teacher and to talk to the Religion teacher (I served 6 years as an altar boy so it was an easy B+); anyway they obviously went to speak with the Biology teacher first and when my father came home and I heard the car door shut and when he entered the house, he flew up the stairs and started kicking my ass. The other time he kicked my ass over school freshman year was when I tore the book "The Good Earth" in half and said "This book sucks!” He gave me a beating and said that I couldn't come downstairs until I had finished the book. He ended up quizzing me. It was pretty interesting because once I started reading some engaging material, my mind was able to stay focused and my grades went from all C's to B's to A's. My father wasn't a total monster; he kept me from being a spoiled punk. I remember in 8th grade carving my name in the wall outside of the Vice Principal's office along with the other knuckleheads and then years later when I was working for the DPW one summer I saw the same names carved into the jail cell wall at the police station and then saw the same names later in the County Courthouse. It was clear what path I was headed down and I even had a close friend die of an overdose. My parents needed to be heavy handed to keep me out of trouble. I think the school choice is valuable because sometimes a kid feels like a misfit. I mean now, I think the people with attention deficit disorder make the best construction managers and traders. They seem to thrive in the faster paced adaptive environments.

Anyway, back to your point; many younger families starting out are paying off their own college debt and trying to build retirement and college funds so they often can't pay for their kid's prep school during the grammar school years but would rather pay a premium for a good public school and if they can swing it later, send them to a private high school. I think many people are seeing graduate school as being important and see it more of a marathon versus a sprint when it comes to money so they don't want to be financially bonded where they can't afford graduate school. I've even heard of people going to community college for two years and then transferring to State College to save money. They are conserving their resources so that they can go further with their learning.

When I was in college I became a pretty talented designer but struggled with the mathematics (structures). I took home a report card with three A's, one B and an F. My father asked if I just forgot to go to class. I told him I wasn't a "Structures" guy. He told me something pretty wise; he said that "I wasn't allowing myself to be a Structure's guy". He helped open my mind to the possibility that you can reconstitute yourself and rewire your mind to be successful in an area where you struggle. My mother also taught me to not be so hard on myself and be filled with anxiety when I couldn't learn as quickly as everyone else. As I got older, I realized that there was always tomorrow and what you couldn’t figure out yesterday, you had tomorrow to look at it again. I remember getting stoned one night and looking up at the open trusses in my studio and actually started to "feel" the forces in the system. I could feel the beams behavior and actually know what type of force was in each member. Once my mind had that logical impression, things flowed and I aced structures ever since. Ever since, my life has been about seeing the confusion and disorder and finding a logical formula and a path out. The kids who struggle to learn through their own chaotic minds often times are good problem solvers. I tell lots of my staff that "A" students often have trouble in the practice of architecture because their own ability has a fluency span that is longer than most that they don't simplify enough where they find simple solutions that are achievable.

I think the biggest advantage to prep school is connections; having the opportunity to be able to plug into great opportunities is so important; it can take decades off your career if you're in the right place at the right time. Knowing the right people is a huge factor in this. As I said earlier, you learn a lot about prevailing with resistance when you have resistance; you just don't want too much of it.

When I got older and was looking for a house and was getting the bullshit from the realtors, I remember saying to my father: "You know, Dad, I don't think I've got the right dog in the fight". (My buyer's agent was working me pretty hard versus the seller) My father said "Johnny, YOU are the best dog in the fight." I remembered what he taught me; that bullshit gets itself an ass kicking so I had to reconstitute myself and learn real estate.

Sorry to bore you all with this, but I think for me, having my parent's support and presence was important because if I was off away at Prep School I wouldn't have had the heavy hand of love that I needed at times. At my 40th birthday party, my parents gave me a collection of all the art work I had done as a kid. I was surprised that they hadn’t thrown that stuff out years ago. When I was acting like a crazy punk, they saw something in me and did everything they could to get me on a path towards my God given gifts. Each kid is totally different and I think Melonrighcoast has her values in the right place.

[melonrightcoast]

john p.: that is a great story and thanks for sharing. although it sounds like your father was heavy handed, he was able to get through to you and you were able to change and not become a criminal. i really like the part about Structural, as it is very similar to what my structural geology prof. told our class: if we were having trouble visualizing the 3-D aspects of rock layers and veins, go have a good beer and ponder it, and it will come to you. . i must admit that i required, cough, cough, stronger medicaments than just beer to have it click for me.

one of the three high schools that i attended was a prep school, and i regret to this day not continuing my HS education there (i commuted to a a city in a neighboring state ... i couldn't even afford to call my friends at $.35/minute and friends are so important to teenagers ). unfortunately, my parents had their own problems at the time (not just financial, I was there on a full scholarship) and didn't push me to continue. my husband has a similar story as john p.'s, minus the beatings, about his parents transferring him to a french-immersion program at a much better school. he missed all his old friends and didn't want to continue, and his parents bribed him to stay at the better high school. he graduated from MIT with a math & cs degree, so I think it was a good decision.

another part of Acton that i really like is that it is relatively diverse racially AND socially. sure, you get decent racial diversity in Lexington and other excellent school districts, but not much social diversity. and then when Lexington did have an apartment community shoved down it's throat, they very obviously treated the residents like second-class citizens (speaking from personal experience).

as for the rankings that Guest posted, i don't know that site so I really cannot comment on it. what I know was that when I did my own research about the schools, i was impressed that Acton was consistently one of the top three math SAT scores at the hs. i think it is typically second behind that special public tech hs in worcester. In my mind, MCAS scores are worthless for comparing high schools, as the students in hs need to compete with kids nationally and internationally. and then i found out about the school choice for the elementary schools, which is similar to being able to choose a private school for your kid. anyway, Acton has the total package for what we want, and we were willing to pay the tax premium because of it. obviously, other things are more important to other people (taxes, location, status, etc.) otherwise everyone would live here.
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melonrightcoast ... are you?

[Guest]

This is the type of taxing I was referring to a few posts up. This is why I am reluctant to pay outgageous property taxes in places like Acton and all of the other places I mentioned. This article doesn't even mention taxes associated with Healthcare Reform or other Federal tax changes/increases coming our way. The standard of living we know today will be significantly different (lower) than tomorrow (3-5 years). In addition all with the potential of inflation to consistently outpace increases in yearly income.


Taxes, taxes everywhere
Strapped states hike taxes and fees by $24 billion for fiscal 2010. Residents pay more for speeding, entering horses in races and digital downloads.
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See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close) By Tami Luhby, CNNMoney.com senior writer
December 4, 2009: 7:25 AM ET

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Where does your state rank?
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Speeders doing more than 85 miles per hour in Georgia will soon pay an additional $200 in fines. Racehorse owners in New York now must fork over $10 to enter their steeds in events. And Massachusetts started charging a 5% tax on broadcast satellite service.

These measures are part of a record $23.9 billion in tax and fee hikes and $7.7 billion in other revenue increases enacted by states in fiscal 2010, according to a report released this week. This is a massive jump over the $8.1 billion in revenue hikes instituted the previous year.

"These are the highest tax increases ever," said Scott Pattison, executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers, which co-produced the semi-annual report with the National Governors Association.

And more taxes increases are likely on the way, experts said.

States are wrestling with some of the worst budget deficits since the Great Depression. Rising unemployment has wreaked havoc on their vital revenue streams of personal income, corporate profits and sales taxes.

Though governors and lawmakers are reluctant to raise taxes, particularly in bad economic times, the current fiscal situation has left them little choice, Pattison said.

Some 29 states enacted revenue hikes for fiscal 2010, which began on July 1 in nearly all states. Personal income tax hikes accounted for the largest portion, some $10.7 billion. Corporate levies declined by $202.2 million.

Taxing the wealthy
An increasingly popular measure is the so-called "millionaire's tax" levied on wealthy residents.

Connecticut, for instance, raised its personal income tax rate to 6.5%, from 5%, for single filers with income greater than $500,000 and married couples earning more than $1 million. The increase in rates is expected to bring in $594 million.

Wisconsin hopes to collect an additional $278.5 million with a new tax bracket of 7.75% for its highest income earners - single filers making more than $225,000 and married couples earning more than $300,000. It also decreased the threshold of capital gains subject to tax to 30%, down from 60%. (The state maintained the 60% exclusion for gains on sales of farm assets.)

Another common revenue raiser is hiking cigarette taxes. Florida added a $1 per pack surcharge, while Delaware upped its levy by 45 cents. Kentucky increased its cigarette tax by 30 cents and doubled the tax on other tobacco products.

Many states added a slew of new taxes and fees to refill government coffers. New Hampshire now taxes gambling winnings, while Rhode Island instituted a $100 fee for the expunging of criminal records. Vermont extended its sales and use tax to digital downloads.

As part of a fee frenzy, New York established a $10 charge on horses entered in races, as well as a $50 bad check charge and a $100 fee on tax preparers who complete 10 or more returns. Those wanting to be certified as a security guard instructor now must pay a $500 initial fee and another $250 every five years.

"These were some of the difficult actions that were necessary to help address a record budget deficit," said Matt Anderson, spokesman for New York's Division of the Budget.

The Empire State was facing a shortfall of more than $20 billion. And despite these measures, another $3.2 billion mid-year gap has opened.

Super speeders
Georgia drivers had better not put the pedal to the metal or they will face a $200 fine and be labeled a "super speeder." The charge will be levied on those who drive more than 85 miles per hour, or 75 miles per hour on a two-lane road. The fee takes effect on Jan. 1 and is expected to bring in $23 million.

Seeking to eliminate a $2.5 billion budget gap going into fiscal 2010, Massachusetts officials searched for new ways to raise money. They found one in creating a tax on direct broadcast satellite services' revenues, which is expected to generate $25.9 million.

"The state was looking for some additional sources of revenue," said Bob Bliss, spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.

The 5% tax will be levied on the satellite companies, but they are expected to pass it along to their subscribers.

These tax increases likely won't be the last. Only five months into their fiscal year, another $14.8 billion in shortfalls has opened. And lawmakers and governors must contend with an estimated $21.9 billion gap for fiscal 2011, according to the report.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we see more tax increases," Pattison said. "We haven't hit bottom."

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