Category: Exercise 1 simulation

The home buying simulation taught me about the options available for someone on a tight budget and how where one can afford to live correlates directly with their access to schooling. My annual income for the simulation was 24,000 dollars and therefore I had to be meticulous with every dollar I spent on rent. When looking online for homes to rent I quickly realized that because I did not have a lot of money to spend and because my spending window was quite small, I had few options. Buying a home was out of the question! I was forced to pick between a couple of apartments, and an even smaller amount that had three bedrooms. One interesting thing that I noticed was the plethora of “rent to own” type of offers. There was an effort to make home buying affordable for all income brackets. I found this interesting because there is  status as a successful American attached to being a home-owner. Not far from Trinity was a home located at 57 Sumner Street. This home has access to many neighborhood public schools with varying levels of school success. This showed the direct correlation between home value and school success. Because in the activity I do not own a car, it is important to be within walking distance of the school. Although there are school buses, it is important to be close, in case any issue arises. The other apartment that was the most convincing is located at 881 Broad Street in Hartford. It is very close to the first apartment, making the school choices very similar. The observation that I made first had to do with the city versus suburbs debate. As someone who has grown up in a city all her life, and has never internalize a negative connotation with urban life, it was tough to put myself in a mental space where city equaled bad and therefore I had to move to the suburbs. That being said, with the amount of money that I was making in the simulation and without access to a car, it was nearly impossible to live in a suburb. While I would have had access to much better schools, the reality is that I couldn’t afford it.

After having been assigned to research suitable and affordable homes to both purchase and rent for someone whose gross annual income amounts to $42,000, free from monthly debt payments but without a car to travel to and from work, I was frustrated with what I found. In my limited life experience with real estate, strictly confined to watching friends and relatives on the hunt for new homes and apartments as a spectator, searching for places to live can be challenging enough (finances and educational decisions aside). However, when browsing the web, I found that most every available property for sale or rent in areas with high quality education systems amounted to more than I could comfortably afford and were not located within walking distance to work. I came to the realization then that people aren’t simply or solely purchasing properties to inhabit but rather, in the process, they are singlehandedly selecting which schools their children will, and most often times will not, attend. It’s shocking to me that federally mandated institutions are so poorly structured and run in the sense that a child’s zip code often dictates the quality of education they receive, which then informs their career path.

From this straightforward simulation I took away a lot more than I had expected I would. I spent hours trolling the Internet looking for available properties and continually was matched with hopeless results. Places I could afford in towns with superior public schools appeared cramped and rundown with an expensive price tag attached. Homes that were well maintained and spacious for parents and two children were affordable though not cheap, and resided in towns with school systems that were not highly esteemed or awarded on either the state or federal level. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have to choose between a safe neighborhood and structurally sound house in my budget or a shabby shack located in a town with a publicly praised school system. Sometimes people can’t make sacrifices like that though. Without a car, a parent would have to maintain their current place of employment which would then offset the freedom to decide which suburban town to relocate their family to.

Thoughts like these provoke questions and further realizations about how society responds to citizens in these types of crises. It is irresponsible and ignorant for others to point fingers at citizens in similar situations to this and to make comments such as, “They don’t work as hard as I do,” or “They’re not doing anything to get themselves out of that position.” It’s almost as if children of low-income families are born into this trap that continues to perpetuate until someone finally breaks the mold. It is not to say that this is a cookie cutter model for every low-income family in America, but on the whole I believe that we as a society choose to blind ourselves from our fellow citizens who suffer to acquire an adequate education for their children and grow up to mirror lives similar to their parents while we write them off as “lazy underachievers” when in fact they have never been given a proper chance to succeed. Essentially, I think it’s easier to place blame on a minority group of individuals than on the collective body of government when in reality we should be joining together as Americans to not only expect but rather demand change from the position of the government as opposed to attaching lofty and unrealistic expectations onto the struggling individuals themselves.

The housing stimulation was interesting to me, especially when considering interest rates and mortgages. In the end, interest paid was almost 3 times my annual gross income. Then, to look at school districts after selecting houses was very discouraging. First, I found some nice houses (as assessed via pictures) and with accommodating space for a family of four. One house I particularly liked was a 3 bedroom/2 bathroom home in Hartford on Osten Blvd. It fit in my price range ($249,900 asking) and had the space I needed. I found it harder to find a home in the suburbs close enough to my job in Hartford, seeing as I don’t have a car. Also, public transport is not usually available the suburbs. I used school digger and greatschools.org to look into school districts, and I found Hartford and East Hartford districts surprisingly low ranked in terms of teacher: student ratio and test scores. Avon had incredible rankings, however, homes in that area were too expensive and too far to commute to a job in Hartford. West Hartford public schools showed promising statistics, and while homes were affordable close to there, it would still be a commute. In the end, this simulation illustrated to me the outrageous rates of interest to consider when taking out a mortgage, the importance of school districts and available public schooling, and proximity to job opportunities. To live in the suburbs may provide security, seclusion, and better schooling. However, costs of living (groceries, rent, etc). and commuting (gas, car, etc.) should be taken into serious consideration. Income inequality may lead to inequality of educational access, which becomes a serious issue in terms of individuals attempting to improve their lives with the resources their given.

 

 

 

As someone who is not familiar with the Connecticut School Systems, I found many challenges while gathering the data to compare the quality of education for Hartford and the surrounding towns. I grew up in Chicago and attended public schools all of my life. My husband and I both have the desire for our kids to grow up in the city and attend public schools as well. With our recent relocation to Hartford, we wanted to ensure that our children would continue to receive quality education as they did in their neighborhood school in Chicago (we have visited Hartford numerous times before for short business trips so we are have a feel for the city even though it is not in depth).

Initially, we looked at places both in Hartford and the other surrounding towns that worked within our limited budget, but ultimately decided to find a place in Hartford. After considering numerous factors such as access to public transportation, affordability and our desire to live in the city, we felt that living in Hartford would be the best fit for our family.

As I researched the Hartford Public School system, I learned that they operate on an Open Choice system. In the beginning, I did not quite understand what that meant, but after conducting more research, I thought that it was a pretty good and unique system. For one, the fact that our children can attend school anywhere in Hartford is appealing to us because we can find a place that we can afford and not have to worry about squeezing into a tiny apartment to ensure that our children attend a good school as we did when we lived in Chicago. Furthermore, the potential for my children to attend suburban schools gives me added hope for their futures. Growing up, I always heard that suburban schools are better in terms of funding, which in turn allows more resources and better learning opportunities. In Hartford it is nice to know that my children can experience the city lifestyle and potentially get the benefit of attending suburban schools.

The results:

We chose to rent an apartment in school zone 3 for $800. We applied to schools based on their tests gain percentage as shown on the Smart Choices website. Our 6th grader will be attending Capital Preparatory Magnet School that had a test gain of 2 points  located in Hartford’s zone 2, while our 3rd grader will be attending Expeditionary Learning Academy at Moylan that had a test gain of three points in Hartford’s zone 3. Our 6th grader will be bused to school, while we will walk our 3rd grader to school (0.8 mi) until we purchase decide to purchase a car. Although we did not look into demographics, according to the Smart Choices website, Capital Prep is predominately African American but has a good balance of Whites and Hispanics. On the other hand, Moylan is predominately Hispanic with very few Whites and African Americans. Ideally I would like for my 3rd grader to attend a more diverse school but we will see how Moylan works first before deciding if we would like to look into other options.

When I look at the schools suburban schools in the Greater Hartford Region OpenChoice Program that my children were eligible to attend, the test gain results were not available. However, the overall average of student demographic showed that there were more Whites enrolled in the suburban schools. When we settle into our neighborhood, I plan to do more research on the schools to get a better look at how the system works to know if my children are truly getting a quality education.

 

One of the biggest drawbacks of the Open Choice initiative is the lottery system. Everyone wants the best for their child and will choose put the top schools on their list, but not everyone will come out winning. Without any previous experience with the school system, the statistics found were helpful, but they don’t give me  a full understanding of what we are getting ourselves into. Even though we initially planned to buy a house in Hartford, we decided to reconsider this option after we experience the schools in the city first. The options seem promising, but we want to ensure that our children will have the best education before settling down. I cannot say that we wont resort to the suburbs (despite deep love and hope for the betterment of urban public schools) if we lose all confidence in the Hartford Public and Magnet Schools, but we are currently optimistic and hope for the best.

Suggestions for the future:

I found it challenging to understand the “ins and outs” of the Hartford Public School system because I’m not from around here.  However, after meeting with Finnouala, to discuss the difficulties, I did not feel as overwhelmed. The Smart Choices website that she showed me was very helpful and I think that the link should be provided as a resource for the activity.