So What???

You may ask "So what?"

So what if you are not a parent? Why should you care about a quality school district? Why should our community care?

I have racked my brain to find a list of answers to the "why care" question. Here is my conclusion: If providing our children a future full of opportunities is not reason enough, then there are two specific areas of financial impact that hits all of us straight in the wallet.

First, a quality school district attracts businesses and jobs. Obviously, the lure of a well-educated workforce is always a foundation for commerce. But we must remember the people making the decisions to either relocate or incorporate a business often have parental considerations of their own. Tax-incentives may be a nice draw, but they really want a place where their families can thrive.

I recently spoke with a high-ranking official of a large company that is bringing over 2,000 jobs to our area. Our school system has been involved from the beginning. We have met with corporate staff on multiple occasions and have more presentations lined up in the coming weeks. They are big fans of the work done by local educators.

A friend of mine moved here from New Hampshire a few years back to open a new creative technology firm. He specifically listed five criteria used for choosing our area as his new home. First on his list was the need for high-quality public schools. He has four children himself and also knew he would need to hire staff, which in many cases may have children of their own.

So what? In addition to luring business opportunities to our area, another very tangible benefit of a strong local school district resides in its direct impact on home values.

Sandra Black once wrote in The Quarterly Journal of Economics (May 1999), "I find that parents are willing to pay 2.5 percent more for a 5 percent increase in test scores." This is good news for residents of a district that ranks near the top of the state in End-of-Grade tests and well above the national average on SAT scores.

Recently, I asked Ida Terbet, a recognized real estate expert, to tell me how the local school district impacts home values. Her response was strong and passionate. "The quality of the school system impacts home value because the schools are demanded, needed and wanted! The more demand you have on a school district, the higher the price for the home."

So what? Why should I care about the quality of my school district? Hopefully, you care about the children attending the schools and you want only the best for them. But in case that is not enough, the economic impact of a healthy school district directly impacts every member of our community. Chad P. Wick, CEO of KnowledgeWorks Foundation, emphatically claims "Education should be viewed as an investment rather than a service that government provides."

Alan Greenspan stated simply, yet eloquently, that wealth creation lies in the "knowledge and skill of our population."

So what? That is what!

Posted by Jeff Nash, the Answer Man at 08:16 AM on March 07, 2008 | Leave Feedback

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