New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco have nothing on Durham-well, at least when it comes to education.
A December Forbes.com article ranked the top places across the country to educate children, and Durham fell into the 20th spot on the list.
Cities were ranked in five different categories: school support, private-school options, library popularity, college town and college options. In these categories. Durham received a 'B,' 'B-plus,' 'A,' 'A-plus' and 'A,' respectively.
David Stein, program coordinator in the Office of Community Affairs, said he was impressed by Durham's ranking, but would have taken notice of the city's other important strengths.
"They looked primarily at colleges [and] universities but I would have broadened it to include major research institutions like the Research Triangle Institute, Family Health International and others in the area," Stein wrote in an e-mail.
Stein explained that Durham's schools, both at the elementary and college-level, are well-funded and well-staffed.
"I have been impressed by the landslide support for the school bond issues and the large number of people attending the Kitchen Table Conversations [bringing together parents and the Durham Public Schools Board of Education] as examples of public support that Forbes may have missed," Stein wrote.
"Durham Technical Community College is probably the best in the state, giving Durham a complete range of top notch educational opportunities," he added.
Harris Cooper, director of the Program in Education, wrote in an e-mail that the availability of quality after-school programs, pre-kindergarten education-related resources and variability among education choices would be valuable categories to address in addition to those in the article.
Duke students who attended Durham public high schools said there is a disparity in the quality of education across the city.
Sophomore Priya Khatri said she was "surprised" to hear of Durham's ranking.
"There has been high teacher-turnover rates at my high school," said Khatri, who attended Durham's Jordan High School. "Teachers are paid better and there is more funding in the Cary and Chapel Hill school systems. I don't feel disadvantaged at Duke, but there are kids that are better prepared, especially in certain areas, such as math and the sciences."
She said she considers Jordan the best public school in Durham because of its facilities and high graduation rates.
Sophomore Vivek Raj, who also attended Jordan, said he was adequately prepared for Duke. Most Duke students who are from Durham went to Jordan, he added.
"It is one of the best schools in Durham and is on par with Chapel Hill and Raleigh schools," he noted. "It offered lots of Advanced Placement classes, including some of the harder ones like Physics, Computer Science, Biology and Chemistry."
In the Forbes.com article, Washington, D.C., and the surrounding area of Arlington, Va., ranked as the best places in the country to educate children. Madison, Wisc., and Cambridge, Mass., were second and third, respectively.
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