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FIND YOUR DREAM HOME OR APARTMENT
I'm also wondering why no Massachusetts. I'm in Shrewsbury and our schools are in the top one or two percent in the country. We are also a stones throw from all of the museums and various cultural opportunites in NYC and Boston. Not to mention surrounded by beaches, mountains, ski slopes, hiking etc. I lived in or near several of the cities on the above list and couldn't "disagree" more with some of the choices...
I've lived on the east coast my entire 46 years and can say with relative certainty that any school system with "average" test scores above 90% have significantly inflated these scores. There are lots of tricks school systems use to accomplish this. Most people (with higher incomes) flock to areas based on these scores thereby driving up the average income levels which,in turn, starts a cycle of trying to preserve / drive-up property values. The school systems are not necessarily all they are cracked up to be, but a bit of denial helps us feel special. "Safety of area" and crime rates can also be fudged, but are a more reliable way of finding a good area to live. If a student is interested in learning, these bloated test and SAT scores are moot. Behavior, attitude and sense of community are much more difficult to find and teach...these don't show up in the test scores.
