One not obvious issue with schools is the local demographics are NOT always in sync with the student body demographics.
Menlo Park which has a high income tax base has a mixed group of students. The wealthy families put their kids in private schools, the result is a student body out of sync with the local demographics. I would of never expected this but one of our close friends is a teacher in Menlo Park/Atherton and has to put her kids in private schools vs the local public schools in Menlo/Atherton district.
The school situation is puzzling to me. The tax base should be fine, and the majority of the schools I see get high ratings on a nationwide basis. Is this genuinely a problem, or is a Valley resident's idea of a bad school one where the majority of the graduates do not get into top-ten universities? Cause my idea of a bad school is one where you have to go through a metal detector to get in and the majority of their graduates go nowhere. :)
Great tip about the traffic too. I went off Google directions, and I'm guessing those times are for light non-rush-hour traffic.