RISD and Property Values

Readers say quality education lowers property values

Jeffrey Weiss Ian McCann, in The Dallas Morning News Richardson blog, posted Monday night's action agenda for Richardson's city council meeting (God, it's good to see the DMN cover local government!). Reader reaction surprised me and had me saying "Really!?!" like an episode of SNL's "Really with Seth and Amy" (only not about Rod Blagojevich). Reader "schoolboardblues" tells us that last week's city council goal session was a real "yawner" and Richardson residents ought to go over to the Richardson ISD school board meetings. Now, if you ask me, both the city council and the school board are very well run, especially compared to their equivalents in Richardson's big brother city to the south.

But, OK, I'll bite. What is the issue with the RISD that has readers so concerned that they hijack a blog item about the city council to whine about the RISD instead? It's apartments. Rundown apartments are the result of the RISD offering quality education. Really. Reader "fedup" explains: "The single family homes in and around the old apartment areas are still in the tank (e.g. Richland Park as one of many examples). When RISD continues to offer programs which appeal to apartment dwellers, they will seek out RISD - plain and simple."

It's time for a sanity check. Really. Richardson ISD is the state's largest school district to earn a rating of "Recognized" in the TEA's accountability assessments. That's a point of pride, folks, with a beneficial side effect for homeowners. Good schools support higher property values for single family homes. If you don't like what your own home's resale value is, don't blame the good schools. And don't blame the RISD's quality education for decaying apartments. If the RISD were to lower its education standards, those decaying apartments aren't going to be filled with more affluent tenants. Take your concerns about rundown apartments to the city council, which does have responsibility for code enforcement. Ironically, readers side-tracked a blog item about the city council, which has the power to address the readers' complaints, to complain about the RISD, which doesn't. Really.