from Hacker News

If my kids excel, will they move away?

by azhenley on 9/14/25, 12:19 AM with 130 comments

• by parsimo2010 on 9/14/25, 2:21 AM

  This is well written, concise, and outlines a problem that most people would call “political” without being hostile to other people (while still making it clear what the problem is). Great job, I wish we had more opinion pieces like this.

  Also, I agree 100%. Some people don’t like foreigners at US schools, thinking that those foreigners are taking spots away from worthy Americans. I think the only thing worse is if the foreigners stop wanting to come to US schools because of the implications about how far the American education system has fallen.

• by wrs on 9/14/25, 2:23 AM

  We can only hope this administration and its supporters are a temporary aberration that the US can claw its way back out of. Otherwise, that classic advice to sign up your kids for Mandarin class starts to sound pretty good.

• by kashunstva on 9/14/25, 3:58 AM

  My wife, daughter and I are Canadian-U.S. dual citizens. We live in Canada. It is exhausting trying to reason through the decision of how to advise our 17 year-old on her post-secondary plans. She has opportunities to study at eminent institutions in the U.S. but is it wise? The broad attack on U.S. education at the hands of the current administration is extremely off-putting.

• by tootie on 9/14/25, 3:10 AM

  My oldest is applying to college right now and this has worried me immensely. College isn't going to be the same anymore. Dark forces are working hard to discourage discourse and diversity. I want to support institutions that still stand for something and value truth and enlightenment but it's hard to know if we're succeeding.

• by madduci on 9/14/25, 6:12 AM

  Although this is correct, the narrative is obviously 100% centered on US perspective.

  The author worries about the brain drain that could affect places like Pittsburgh, but on the other hand, people is already living it, as my kids just see grandparents once per year, since we live in another country, but there is people who can't even do it on an annual base, because they live far away or in countries considered at risk.

• by wkat4242 on 9/14/25, 3:59 AM

  Some people don't like rural communities anyway. I've lived in a provincial town with about 150k people for a while and that was already too much for me. All the groupthink, the conservative "family values", the way everyone knows everyone, the religion. It really rubbed me the wrong way. Also the lack of resources, the place was the graveyard of ambition. And all the imbecile councillors considering themselves the center of the world. Never anything new to explore, few opportunities to find people with different opinions, no really interesting tech (I'm big into the maker community) etc. Things always arrived there last. New initiatives being announced by said councillors only to die off quickly when the novelty wears off. I found the place deeply suffocating and I felt like the world was passing me by. I know some people are happy with their lives there but I certainly was not. I don't want a house with a big garden and peace and quiet. I love living in a neighborhood that's alive.

  Take this with a grain of salt because I'm very independent, individualist and progressive. I think that was already clear from the above :)

  I live in a big city now and I love it so much. Excellent public transport so I don't need a car anymore (haven't driven in 7 years), always new things to do and see. New initiatives that actually go somewhere instead of dying out like in the small town.

  I can imagine people that like to think outside the box and build stuff like me often like to live in bigger places. That's not even education related as such (you can also be self taught) though it does tend to correlate of course.

  And no I wouldn't think of visiting the US in the current situation, let alone move there to study or work (I'm not in the studying age anymore anyway). I do agree with the author that the current politics would deter skilled people.

• by duxup on 9/14/25, 3:52 AM

  This whole politics being practiced by excluding others or by just generally being a jerk ... I don't get it. It's like throwing a fit, it's not going anywhere good.

• by kousthub on 9/14/25, 2:50 AM

  This post sounds a bit one sided. Maybe there should be centre of excellences elsewhere too. Let the others live near their parent’s farms as well.

• by rKarpinski on 9/14/25, 3:20 AM

  [flagged]

• by weregiraffe on 9/14/25, 5:32 AM

  If they excel, yes. If they powerpoint, no.

• by firesteelrain on 9/14/25, 2:47 AM

  I am struggling with the premise of this post. The analogies don’t seem to land very well