uhhh the Deseg plan sucks balls. The only thing it has done is destroy The Baton Rouge Public School system.
It's still a nice place to live. It's expensive if you have kids because the public schools suck, but its not like Baton Rouge is some kind of combat zone. The crime is in the same inner city neighborhoods that its always been in. Same criminals, same victims. But there's an awful lot more nice neighborhoods.
I agree that it is somewhat contained, but it is not just inner city anymore. Go hang out on Gardere and GSRI. That place is jsut as bad as North Baton Rouge.
No it isn't. Gardere's rap is worse than the place really is. It is a rough neighborhood, but it is no worse than the Bottom. 2theadvocate.com | Homicide Map for 2008 — Baton Rouge, LA
But, see, that's my point, Red. I'm a proponent of strong public schools, and I believe communities are stronger that have them. If I lived IN Baton Rouge, of course, my daughters would go to private schools. I'd have to pay out the nose for them, instead of being able to put back money monthly for college. Now, it can be argued that I pay out the nose in Texas with higher property taxes that pay for excellent public schools. But I think I'm actually getting a bargain at $300 or $400 a month in property taxes. Private school wouldn't be as cheap for two kids. So, if I lived in Louisiana again, I'd have to go to a "suburban" public school district (though they wouldn't be as good as the one I teach in currently and where my daughters attend.) Don't get me wrong, Red. I love Baton Rouge, and I'm torn all the time between wanting to be back down there, to be "home" and wanting what's likely best in the end for my daughters, as far as education and opportunities goes. In Plano, I can have the best of both worlds, in that sense. Top-rate public schools, many beautiful neighborhoods with lower housing prices per square foot than Baton Rouge, low crime, and a better chance of the girls being able to find work in major companies in this area when they get out of college. But I miss Baton Rouge, and Gumborue, more to the point, I miss the Baton Rouge before Judge Parker's desegregation plan. No, I'm not a fan of Jim Crow. The city I live in now is 100 times more racially diverse than Baton Rouge. I teach white, Asian, black, Hispanic kids, and I think it's wonderful for kids to be introduced to different races and cultures. But Judge Parker did away with neighborhood schools in Baton Rouge, and THAT'S what killed the system. Good public schools rely on strong neighborhood support. I love that my daughter's school friends ALL live within a two square mile radius of our house. I love that everywhere we go around here, we run into kids she knows from school. Now, as she progresses through middle school, high school, and senior high school, that radius will expand, but she's in the "central cluster" of Plano schools, and the regional pride in the neighborhoods is strong here. East side, West side, etc. During football season, Plano Senior High wildcat paws are placed on light poles throughout the central cluster and the maroon spirit shirts are worn on kids all over this part of the district. Baton Rouge was once that way. There was a time when Broadmoor or Tara or Lee or Istrouma had that neighborhood pride. But it was taken away, and with it, the public school system was taken away.
I can agree with that, I live in Royal Palm Beach, FL and it was rated as one of the top ten places last year in the US to raise kids and great schooling. It takes neighborhood support to achieve this.
