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Comment by analog31 | Hacker News Reader

I spent a few years in Texas -- another zero income tax state, before moving back to the Midwest.

Something to consider is whether or not you've got kids. Right now my family lives in an affordable neighborhood with a tolerant culture and excellent public schools that my two kids attend. In Texas, it seemed more like getting a good secular education for your kids was something that you had to pay a lot for, one way or the other -- either living in a super affluent neighborhood or finding private schools. Financially, I think that I may actually come out ahead living in one of the so-called "education states."

Granted, my cultural biases show themselves in this post.

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> In Texas, it seemed more like getting a good secular education for your kids was something that you had to pay a lot for, one way or the other -- either living in a super affluent neighborhood or finding private schools.

I have to disagree with this. I graduated from a regular public school in Texas and there was nothing sectarian about the education and it was far better than the public high school I attended in the SF Bay Area (they could actually afford things like copy paper, something my CA high school stopped buying due to budget cuts. They also dropped all advanced courses, this in a neighborhood with houses reaching $1 million).

I lived in an affluent neighborhood in Texas, yes, but the bar to afford such a neighborhood isn't very high here. ~$250k homes in that area for some of the top-ranked high schools in the nation.

I grew up in a very affluent school district in Texas, and I still had to deal with being harassed for being an atheist and having my biology teacher preface her lessons on evolution with "Now, this is not what I personally believe, but...".

That said, even with those little unpleasantnesses, I did get an excellent education.

I didn't take biology in Texas, I took it in California before I moved and my bio teacher in CA espoused a similar attitude.

I don't get why people are under the impression that (a small portion of) atheists are any less extremist than extremists of any religion.

You wouldn't believe the lengths some people go to to spite believers.

Atheists aren't a religious group. They're the absence of one.

not if they're vehement about it

That's just asinine. Think about it.

"Not eating is a style of cuisine, just like Ethiopian or Italian, because those darn anorexics are just so vehement about it."

I did think about it. And not eating is a style of cuisine. The flavors of your body slowly eating itself are euphoric to some. There are plenty of annoying atheists who are trying to convince people they are right. It's the same as the Mormons showing up on your front step.

If rushed judgements of religious groups irritate you, a good first step might be not to engage in exactly the same behaviour. "Let he who is without sin..."

What does that have to do with anything? He's talking about having to deal with crazy creationists (also known as religious extremists). That doesn't mean he is one himself.

Developing a thick skin and tolerance for the culture of the locals definitely helps you enjoy the good things you find in life.

I was under impression that Texas does have good schools, e.g. 3 of top 20 schools in the nation according to USNews are in TX: http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-r...

Also, what are the "education states" and why?

Amusingly Miami has 3 schools on that list (Florida has 5), and all of California has 2 (neither in the Bay Area).

Though unless you're planning on sending your kids to one of these schools I don't think this really tells you much of anything.

2 are in neighboring "counties" in seattle. Wooh boring seattle.

Kirkland and Bellevue are both in king county.

thus the effing quoties. I live here I know theyre both in king county. But thanks for being both pedantic and stupid. it keeps smart people in SV and away from trying to get my job.

They're rather distant culturally though: compared to Seattle proper, Kirkland and Bellevue are whitebread, suburban, relatively conservative.

Of course compared to the rest of the state...

Basically, Bellevue and Kirkland (as well as Kenmore, Bothell, Renton, etc...) are just like any other suburb outside of the Bay Area. As for the rest of the state, most of my family lives in the Spokane area and were originally from Walla Walla...

I can speak for Houston at least. The suburbs (Sugar Land, Katy, etc.) all have pretty good schools, and the homes zoned to them are generally affordable to middle class families ($250-300k is probably the sweet spot).

If you live in an urban inner-city neighborhood, though, then yes, you have to pay an extraordinary amount to get a good education for your kids through private school. On the plus side, Houston has some incredibly strong private high schools (e.g., St. John's School) if you can afford the $20-25k/year tuition on top of the super expensive real estate and the 3% property taxes.

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