Urban Schools Gain Momentum

When the number one excuse to move to the suburbs by my peer group is schools, I get pretty excited when I see articles like IBJ’s Norm Heikens article “Urban Schools gather momentum in Indianapolis Area.” According to one of the experts interviewed, ”Parents who believe they must flee Marion County to find good schools might do as well or better by staying put” (Johnathan Plucker; Indiana University). As the article states, we are not 100% there, and it is not that affluent suburbs average test scores are not still above, however, it appears that urban schools are improving, and at a much faster rate than the suburban schools. What excites me is the fact that there is improvement, and all the work so many of us have done to improve the urban core, some of the final pieces, like education are starting to come together. It is not so much that I am happy with where the schools are, but that we are finally starting to see some signs that the trend is moving in the right direction for the first time in decades. It is amazing what happens when competition starts to enter the market, how things start to improve!