Schools are better than many think, parents are assured

From today's Chronicle, "The San Francisco public schools have a math problem: Students outperform those of all other large, urban districts in the state, but children are leaving -- in droves."

"To figure it all out, a group of middle-class parents in the city's Potrero Hill neighborhood last month asked about 140 families in an anonymous e-mail survey why they had moved away."

"In all, 70 percent of the respondents said housing prices caused them to leave the city. But more than half, 53 percent, blamed the schools."

"...[many parents] expressed frustration with San Francisco's school lottery system, which often bars children from attending their own neighborhood schools. School quality and the lottery system were two complaints that came up again and again in the parents' survey."

"As for school quality, the San Francisco Unified School District scored 745 on the last Academic Performance Index, with 800 considered excellent on the 200- to 1000-point scale. By contrast, Los Angeles scored 649, San Jose 737, and Berkeley -- where many families have fled to, according to the Potrero Hill survey -- 737."

"The message about San Francisco schools that a growing number of parents are trying to send is this: If you try them, you may like them."