Mediocre public education -- a few decent private
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12/25/2013
Albuquerque education: Public schools are so-so, and of inconsistent quality. We've not had children in the school system, but one of us volunteers with elementary reading tutoring and sees the damaging effects of several interacting factors: conservatives' relentless campaigns to vilify teachers and undercut real education, poorly managed schools at the system level, and a significant amount of parental incompetence (from an educational perspective). And yes, there are some (a minority of) unqualified teachers who need to be retrained or removed. There are a lot of poor, undereducated parents who don't know how to best help their children learn. It's a toxic mix of factors conspiring against effective public schools. Even so, there are pockets of excellence, though these tend not to be rewarded or reinforced and are difficult to maintain. There are a few good private schools in the area, but only a couple that are secular. Well educated parents who have the ability and time to oversee their kids' learning will be okay. Others' children may suffer inferior educations.
University of New Mexico is here, with a reputation ranging from so-so to superior, depending on academic program. UNM has a reputation for bleeding off too much of its budget to a too-large cadre of overpaid, under-performing administrators. It also has a reputation for its maddening bureaucratic processes and unhelpful lower-and-mid level administrative personnel. I've heard many disturbing stories of staff being blatantly rude and dismissive of students seeking to sign up for classes, change schedules, or take other simple administrative actions. UNM does offer a robust continuing education program that gets much better reviews.
CNM, the local community college, is typical of that kind of school. It's more affordable than UNM, but has fewer programs.
Because there's a large military community, there are a lot of other national universities and colleges (U. of Phoenix, National U., etc.) with physical presence. If you want an education and can afford it, you can get it.
Mark | Lexington-Fayette, KY