This post is from from my other blog here

Yesterday's Post section by Jay Mathews on picking a good school should be helpful to some (evidently only those who read his whole column, though), but there's some serious flaws. We'll be brief in responding to each of his 10 points, as parents who've actually been through and are experiencing the process...

1 - "Buy an expensive home and you can almost be sure the local public school will be good" - that's technically somewhat accurate, but there's a lot of range inside the word "good" - that's where the rubber meets the road.

2 - "Look at the data" - absolutely.

3 - "Talk to at least 2 parents of children in different grades engrolled in the school you are considering" - great advice, if you're able to find parents willing to share; you're probably better off trying to do this online - blogs/forums like this are an increasingly-used method for quick communication.

4 - "Visit the school and ask to speak to the principal" - this is fabulous advice, especially the part about "would I hire this person to work in my office"? The problem is, Principals change. Our Elementary School's initial Principal was an efficient, effective Manager of resources and capabilities - the current Principal we wouldn't hire to wash our car work in our office, and ALL indicators of the school's success profile are on their way down. We'd say speak to some of the Teachers, as well, about their "Boss".

5 - "Listen to your Kids" - certainly, and their friends.

6 - "The most competitive high schools do not necessarily lead to acceptance at the most selective colleges" - this is the ongoing undercurrent of Jay's knocking the merits and perceived value among driven parents of Thomas Jefferson (regional magnet school); while it is true that colleges look for the "whole package", why wouldn't you strive to challenge your child to the very greatest limits of their abilities and interests?

7 - "Don't worry about Elementary School" - Jay makes the point that Parents are the greatest influencers and supporters of children during these years, and if the school is safe and you like it, "relax". In our experience, the majority of parents are utterly un-involved in school, especially with respect to core academics (vs. sports), and this avoidance plus "non-worrying" leads directly to lax policies, non-motivated students, non-differentiated teaching, utter discpline chaos and rampant laziness in the classrooms, principals who aren't respectful or effective, and kids whose most impressionable and potential-filled years of learning and brain-expansion are utterly wasted. There's plenty to worry about in a mediocre Elementary School.

8 - "There are no good middle schools" - this is obviously and patently absurd...and if I'm not worrying about Elementary school, and there's no good middle schools, my kids have now spent 9 years wasting away like turnips in our society's drive to create an unmotivated, uncompetitive, brainless population that's the laughing-stock of the rest of the world. There are, obviously some very good middle schools...achieving Algebra I by the end of the eighth grade is an exceptional goal that indicates a good school? Why not Algebra I by the end of 6th grade, like a certain subsection of students are actually achieving in some extremly good private middle schools?

9 - "Look for challenging high schools" - certainly, but I'd hope that all high schools are challenging to some degree, in some range of subjects - be sure also to focus on challenges in academics vs. sports.

10 - "Listen to your heart" - well, sure....but listen very attentively and frankly to those that have gone before and are currently there - perhaps your heart needs to be over-ruled.