Irvine public schools? reputation and housing stress

G

garfangle_IHB

New member
<p>Irvine has invested heavily in raising/maintaining the reputation of its public schools. TIC has advertised to prospective homebuyers that Irvine schools are among the best in California and Irvine is a family-friendly environment. Irvine students have some of the highest test scores and do not plague the school system with problems. However, all this has been build upon a backdrop of upward mobility for Irvine residents and an expansion of resources devoted to its kids. With the bursting of the housing bubble, jobs will be lost, wealth will evaporate, development will recede, and community amenities will be slashed.</p>

<p>With all this dislocation and trauma, many residents of Irvine will hunker down and try to scrape by if they can. This will put enormous stress on families, which won't be good for the children. If Mom and Dad are fighting over the household budget, which bill to pay, and avoiding calls from debt collectors, kids will have a hard time concentrating on schoolwork. Moreover, the schools will be in a bind themselves, having to cut back on non-essential programs and activities, a casualty of collapsing property tax revenues. Therefore, one can expect the high test scores to fall from previous years and the quality of the school infrastructure to suffer as well. TIC may have to revise its marketing in the future to reflect this development.</p>

<p>Of course, the housing depression will affect all of California, so on a relative basis it might not be so bad. Although since the OC was the epicenter of the mania, it has much farther to fall than most places.</p>
 
Irvine schools are somewhat over-rated anyways. The measures for a good school should include much more than just test scores that can be easily flaunted to prospective buyers. I think that it would be interesting at the household structure when housing is great vs. housing in trouble. For example, would parental involvement in schools still be as wide spread once a dual income is needed to scrape by in Irvine? What if split families result from the financial woes of the housing bubble? What if home vacancies and foreclosures result in a budget deficit for the county?





I can also easily see the number/quality of Elementary schools declining due to high cost Irvine presents to young families. As the demand for Elementary schools dwindles, so will the money that is put into education. After that the dominoes just keep on falling ...
 
green_cactus,





Doesn't that assume that the rate of dual-income households would have to rise in Irvine faster than the other surrounding communities? From what I've been led to believe, Irvine is in better shape than some of the other OC areas in regards to income, reliance on non-RE businesses, etc.





On what measure are the Irvine schools overrated? I understand high API scores don't automatically translate to successful, well rounded students, but what are you comparing them to?





-OCR
 
Garfangle, relax... the sky is not falling. Most residents in Irvine bought their home at reasonable prices prior to the boom. Irvine has high performing schools because it has good demographics. And although Irvine is a good place to live, it's not exactly a whole standard above the rest of Orange County. As a big city, it may be better than Anaheim, Santa Ana, or Garden Grove, but it's not much better than Huntington Beach. Just take a drive around Irvine, no one is showing the slightest bit of anxiety towards housing woes.
 
<em>"Just take a drive around Irvine, no one is showing the slightest bit of anxiety towards housing woes."</em>





Denial and ignorance still rule the day.


<em>


"Most residents in Irvine bought their home at reasonable prices prior to the boom."</em>





Actually, statistics show that over 50% of Irvine households were formed since the year 2000.
 
In Irvine 18.2% of the households are in the RE, finance, or insurance industry. The amount of people employed in that sector is the third most of all the sectors.





39.2% of owner occupied units with a mortgage spent 35%+ of their household income on their mortgage. In 2000 only 25.1% spent 35%+. Household income includes investment, rental. etc. income. The census data is survey based, so if someone had an option ARM of 1% they might say they spend 35%+, even if that isn't the actual payment.





28.9% of the householders moved into their unit (rental or owner occupied) in 2005.
 
"50% of irvine households were formed since the year 2000"...



I am curious if anyone knows what % of the houses in Irvine were bought after 2003. That is a probably a more relevant number. "% household" formed doesn't give a good indication for this particular discussion, and that involves a lot of new startup households who usually move into an apartment. In terms % of householders move into their units, that number also is not a good indicator, apartment units have large turn overs.



Also, does anyone know what is the foreclosure rate in irvine right now?
 
<em>"I am curious if anyone knows what % of the houses in Irvine were bought after 2003."</em>





I wish we had that data as well. Those after 2003 are in deep trouble whereas those from 2000-2002 might fair better.





This data was actually posted somewhere on the blog recently, but I couldn't locate where I saw it.





Graphix probably has good foreclosure data.
 
<<<many residents of Irvine will hunker down and try to scrape by if they can. This will put enormous stress on families, which won't be good for the children. If Mom and Dad are fighting over the household budget, which bill to pay, and avoiding calls from debt collectors, kids will have a hard time concentrating on schoolwork>>>





My Chinese neighbors in College Park never had much though they saved enough to buy a house. The husband is a butcher at 99 Ranch Market and the wife does odd jobs. Their only daughter attended Caltech on a full scholarship and is now at UCSF medical. A friend,s family escaped from Vietnam on a leaky junk and their daughter also made it to UC Davis medical school. Adversity can breed real toughness. I salute them all. Will these people think a RE crash is a problem? No way.
 
Any public school teachers/admin want to chime in? Do they detect abnormal stress on their students that stems outside the classroom?
 
<p>I don't notice the slightest bit of stress from students at Northwood or University High. As for households, Irvine's population was 140K in 2000 and 200K now. 60 out of 200 is 30%. And perhaps 2/3 of those new residents bought homes... so that comes out to 20%. And perhaps half of those are first time homeowners. So perhaps 10% of the Irvine population are first time homeowners who bought overpriced homes. As for the job statistics, although there are many RE related jobs in Irvine, many of these workers commute from surrounding areas. I've spoken to numerous long time homeowners who chuckle at all the fluctuations in home prices. They couldn't care more or less which way the market goes - they'll continue living at their home as usual. Bear in mind that the average mortgage payment in the OC is still under $2500. So the majority of homeowners are doing just fine. I don't want to downplay the current housing woes, but 5 years of reckless of buying does not affect residents who have owned for 10+ years. I think the folks who will be hittest hard are those in their 20's who bought within the past few years - some of my closest friends would fall in this category.</p>
 
<p>Playing obnoxious devil's advocate:</p>

<p>One could argue that the future residents of Irvine will undergo selection pressure so that only the financially prudent remain (ie. either financially prudent resident left standing, or financially prudent person who actually has a downpayment saved to move in later). Financial prudence tends to correlate with traits like planning, sacrifice, and intelligence. So if anything, one might argue that selecting for that trait (which is presumably passed down to the owners offspring) should raise the test scores ...</p>
 
hs_teacher:





If Irvine's population grows by 60K, it does NOT mean that only 60K people moved to the city. Any assumed percentages you are using are pulled out of thin air. However, I'll agree that people who have owned for 10 years + are not worried about mortgage payments. On the other hand, they might not care so much for funding Elementary schools. Most kids are probably done with it by that point.





garfangle:





As for the quality of education, I don't have the answers you are looking for. I'm just a bit skeptical on the great education kids are getting in Irvine. From anecdotal experience my take is that Irvine families encourage (or pressure?) their kids to do well in school. A level of parental involvement that is not seen in some other cities. My question is: when it comes to college admissions, how do Irvine kids fare compared to other cities? Or do they just either go to UCI or UCSB ... :p



 
I'm a believer that if the student is motivated enough, they can get a good education anywhere. I'm not an Irvine schools product, but I did have a lot less stress back then than some of my friends who went to Uni. Plus, we all ended up going to good schools anyway.
 
<<how do Irvine kids fare compared to other cities? Or do they just either go to UCI or UCSB ... :p>>


It really seems that you aren't familiar with the ISD. My 3 kids attended uni . Even though that it was years ago when Northwood was new and uni was the "prime" irvine HS. IMHO good schools not measured by the quality of it's teachers but by the support the parents give to the school system and the motivation of the students. At uni the intense pressure to do well comes from the high percentage of Asian parents and students themselves and is foreign to the usual native born American student. I am glad my kids went through that pressure because Asian competition is what they see in real life. They tell me that AP honors at uni was just as tough as any university and IMHO they and all of their peers have all done well post uni. I cannot say that every uni grad will become a Mayo MD or a MIT PhD but our moving to Irvine just to send our kids there is without question is our SMARTEST decision ever.
 
http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/?p=3749





repost>>>>>


<p>8th Grade Final Exam: Salina, KS, 1895</p>

<p>Grammar (Time, 1 hour)


1. Give nine rules for the use of capital letters.


2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.


3. Define verse, stanza and paragraph.


4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of “lie,” “play,” and “run.”


5. Define case; Illustrate each case.


6. What is punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.


7-10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar.</p>

<p>Arithmetic (Time, 1:25 hours)


1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.


2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?


3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?


4. District No 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?


5. Find the cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.


6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 percent.


7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per meter?


8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.


9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?


10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.</p>

<p>US History (Time, 45 minutes)


1. Give the epochs into which US History is divided.


2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.


3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.


4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.


5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.


6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.


7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln, Penn, and Howe?


8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865. </p>

<p>Orthography (Time, 1 hour)


1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication.


2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?


3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals.


4. Give four substitutes for caret “u.”


5. Give two rules for spelling words with final ‘e.’ Name two exceptions under each rule.


6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.


7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup.


8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.


9. Use the following correctly in sentences: cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.


10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.</p>

<p>Geography (Time, 1 hour)


1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?


2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?


3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?


4. Describe the mountains of North America.


5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Hecla, Yukon, St. Helena, Juan Fernandez, Aspinwall and Orinoco.


6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.


7. Name all the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.


8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?


9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the sources of rivers.


10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give the inclination of the earth.</p>

<p>Notice that the exam took FIVE HOURS to complete. Gives the saying “he only had an 8th grade education” a whole new meaning. Also shows you how pathetic our education system has become. </p>
 
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