Those other school districts have been around longer and score better on tests.  They think the Maricopa schools are filled with gangs, drugs, incompetent administration and non caring teachers.

Wow... Interesting...   When I went to the board meeting, he seemed to be the only person questioning the district and attempting to hold people accountable. Did I miss something?

Obviously buzymom I have hit a nerve with you. I was not judging anyone because they do it, I was merely curious when we have schools here.  This is the first place I have lived that had so many people go to schools outside of their district and just wondered if there were extra costs for it. I respect everyone's choice and as I say "TO EACH THEIR OWN". I don't feel my asking was rude or judgemental. By the way, if you were offended by my curiousity then you should not have replied!! 

The questions that you asked did seem to be judgemental. Perhaps you did not mean for your post to come across that way, but considering the derision with which parents who ship their kids out are treated, it's natural that they might read it negatively.

Here is a link to the MUSD report card. It is horrible. Of course, MANY AZ schools are failing to meet the needs of the community. They are profoundly underfunded and have ranked in the bottom for student expenditure every year of the 11 that I have lived here. So I cannot fault parents who find good schools and stick with them.

http://www10.ade.az.gov/ReportCard/DistrictDetails.aspx?id=4441&ReportLevel=2

It's funny. Since deciding to homeschool my kids four years ago, I have met with a lot of criticism from parents and educators who feel that I could not possibly do as well of a job as the public schools. Excuse me while I laugh hysterically.

I think it's hassle on both sides, people who leave their kids in this school district look like we don't care or don't have enough information, and that is not true. I would not pull my kids out of this school district but there is not one member of this school district or at my kid's school who doesn't know my name or shudder when they see me coming. It's about changing things for the better around here and when things don't work, we need to call the school and make it better, not get on a message board and complain about it. I always call my school at see how I can help or complain when things didn't go right and most of the time they are very open to change. They want to see things change for the better. Sometimes they can't see things the way a parent can and they need us to point it out.

Anyone has the right to sent their kids to whatever school they what for the time being, as long as Kyrene continues to have low enrollment. When they have enough kids in their own districts they will no longer accept Maricopa kids. Kyrene parents think Maricopa parents send their kids here because they have no other choice and that is not the case...I want my kids to go here. The schools are brand new my kids' teachers are great, the bus drivers are great, the commute is short. Yes they have their problems but I hear Kyrene parents bitch about that school district too, they just don't do it on here.

One parent pulled her kid out of Maricopa schools, thinking it was the teacher's fault he was doing so bad, when it turns out he is doing just as bad in Kyrene. And the bus ride is horribly long for him everyday. If your kid is a bad student sending them to the best school in the world isn't going to help them if they don't want to learn.

MUSD has fantastic teachers and Kyrene has some pretty bad ones. In 5 years lets all come back and see how our kids are doing. I bet you won't see a bit of difference from the ones who graduated from MUSD vs. Kyrene. You may think you are giving them a leg up by sending them there but they still may end up flipping burgers at the new McDonalds while the MHS grads may be on a full scholarship to collage. You just never know. We all just do the best we can can and hope for the best.

In 5 years lets all come back and see how our kids are doing. I bet you won't see a bit of difference from the ones who graduated from MUSD vs. Kyrene.

I beg to differ here. When I decided to stay home (I was a teacher in Tempe and my kids attended my school), I chose to send my kids to Kyrene because that was way back when K-2 and 3-5 were at different schools here in Maricopa and I just didn't get a good vibe from the 3-5 school while touring it. I bussed my kids for one year and then decided it was too long of a drive and was taking away from our family time and extra curricular activities. I figured since I was home and very involved in their educations it would work out better. My oldest entered MUSD in fifth grade after taking gifted classes in Kyrene. My son and a few other boys sat in the back of the class and taught themselves 6th grade math because the teacher admittedly could not keep up with their pace. Although not happy with the method of instruction (none really) I was at least happy they weren't forced to repeat math they had learned a year prior. At conference time I was told that they had just started social studies because they finally recieved textbooks and weren't doing science due to a lack of books. HELLO! You don't need textbooks to teach science. I printed out the science standards from the ADE website for fifth grade and gave suggestions for implementing science w/out the books. I made sure to volunteer any time she attempted to tackle projects within the classroom, etc. Anyway, to make a long story short, he was pulled from MUSD after sixth grade and started back in Kyrene last year for 7th. Boy was it a rude awakening! Although he had all honors classes at MWMS and maintained good grades, he was in NO WAY prepared for 7th grade to the same level as the existing Akimel students. He had to work his butt off to catch up to where the other kids in his advanced classes were. I also like how Kyrene keeps the 6th, 7th and 8th grades separate from one another. In 6th grade at MWMS he not only was mixed with 8th graders on campus, he played sports with them as well. Last year, he played sports strictly with 7th graders and this year it will just be 8th graders.

I could go on for days about what the two years in MUSD did to my now fifth grader..... Thank goodness for Legacy, because I really don't like the idea of shipping my elementary kids off for school again. Things may be getting better, but from 2005-2007 the schools were not providing an adequate educational experience.