Comment: Local Schools Shunned by El Cerrito Families

A small floodgate of passionate comments and reader debate was opened by two stories we published Sunday about West Contra Costa schools – "" and "School Board Eyes New Ballot Measure – Special Meeting Monday." Our Comment of the Week below, posted by "TT" on the first story, was selected not necessarily as representative but as a vivid example of the many sharp facets of what has long been a vital issue in the community:

TT:

El Cerrito families might like to send their kids to school here, but a lot of us just feel that it really may not be a good choice. I watch families with school aged kids leave as soon as they have the wherewithall to do so. Where we live everyone with young kids just mutters about how they will have to leave the district by the time their kids are in junior high-- and this is an enormous shame-- it means that families with means don't settle here. We have elderly people and young families, but people with teenagers OFTEN opt to go elsewhere if they can. But this saddens us. I think we'd like to live in a town where we felt good about the schools. We backed the tax because we like our town and want to stay here, but nobody will invest in it -- and we can't fully invest in it-- till the schools are excellent. We don't want underfunded schools that are full of both youth violence and underpaid teachers. Despite having a great town by good public transit we know that our town is stalled around education. And every year time runs out on our kids. I think this already makes us feel urgent.

• Editor's note: We welcome reader comments on our articles. The Comment of the Week doesn't necessarily reflect the view of El Cerrito Patch. It's chosen according to what we believe will be of general reader interest. For other examples from our Comment of the Week series, please click .