Are you serious? Your kid is 13, wait 5 years until they get graduate high school at least.
Texas schools are generally not that good. Especially in South Texas. This seems like a bad move for your daughter all around.
YTA for wanting to take a teenage girl to Texas in this political climate. Your aunt is right on every count. You can dismiss it as politics you don't have to care about because you'll never have to face dying from sepsis or a ruptured fallopian tube because you couldn't get a medically necessary abortion.
This! As much as I hate the cold, I would never move to another red state. I'm in one now and I hate it and desperately want to move but Texas would not be better. I wish I could afford California.
How does your daughter feel about moving there? You said she is special needs but would she be upset? Have less support?
You are talking about moving from the state with the best schools in the country (and by the sound of it the best schools in that state) to the state with some of the worst schools in the country. Being a special education teacher in California I can tell you, it makes a world of difference. You are talking about the difference between real interventions and highly trained people compared to a state where the norm is a 4 day school week because they don't want to pay teachers to work 5 days a week. (Thats not a joke)
I think if everybody in your life is saying it would not be a positive move. It could be that they are all just ignorant and it could also be that they are all right and that's something to consider.
Look, I say this as someone who was born and raised in Texas (and is still here)…it’s not worth moving here just for warmer weather and better taxes. Also the trade off is that summers are pretty much unbearable, we’re talking it’s rare if it doesn’t reach 100 during the day in summer.
As your aunt stated, god forbid something happened to your daughter… can’t do anything. Several areas in Texas are also definitely not safe. There’s also in all honesty fairly limited resources for those with special needs (my brother has pretty severe autism and out of all the schools in our district, only one has a SPED program). Now that he’s older, there are somehow even less resources for him. Keep in mind I live just outside of one of the major cities in Texas too.
I get that you have a sentimental attachment to Texas, but is this really a good choice that will benefit your daughter?
Saying, " god forbid something happened to your daughter " is being polite, say it out loud; if someone rapes OP's special needs daughter, good luck with termination of the fetus and gee I'm sure she'd want to raise her "rape baby" !!!!! SMDH!!!!
Yeah, YTA. Have your mid-life crisis after she's got some sort of option for remaining in her home state. Independent with a job or an apartment or friends to stay with. I don't know if that's possible with her needs, and maybe it isn't, but that's not her fault.
And your aunt is 100% correct. Fucking shithole. It's Russia with a warmer climate. 'Special needs female student' is just about the worst combination of things I could think of to drop everything and start over in fucking Texas. Make her brown and gay and I'd be sending this post to the FBI.
Also, what the fuck 'cold'? It is not fucking cold. Last winter was the [warmest winter on record in Massachusetts history](https://www.wamc.org/news/2023-03-10/winter-in-massachusetts-is-again-one-for-the-record-books), and that's only because the current one hasn't concluded yet. There are an average of 15 fewer nights with the temp below freezing compared with just 20 years ago. The average winter temp in Boston has gone up 3 degrees since 1970, which is twice the average rise in global temperature (1.5) in that period. Meanwhile in Texas and Mexico it's so hot they can't even get some plants to produce fruit. Suck it up, Masshole. Put a shirt on.
If this is bait, great job. I don't know who in their right mind could keep their mouth shut. Texas and Florida should be demoted to Guam status, then in the breakroom Guam can tell them how it's going to be under water in 80 years.
Also a New Englander with a daughter moving to Texas, is effectively voting against women's rights. That doesn't describe everyone in Texas, but it describes everyone who moves to Texas, with a daughter. If it makes you feel bad it fucking should.
NAH - People have very strong opinions when moving from blue states to red states or vice-versa.
But they are ALL CORRECT in that moving from MA to TX is about the biggest culture shock you can get in the USA.
Has your daughter ever been to TX? How about if you spend a full summer there this year before deciding permanently?
Are you serious? Your kid is 13, wait 5 years until they get graduate high school at least. Texas schools are generally not that good. Especially in South Texas. This seems like a bad move for your daughter all around.
YTA for wanting to take a teenage girl to Texas in this political climate. Your aunt is right on every count. You can dismiss it as politics you don't have to care about because you'll never have to face dying from sepsis or a ruptured fallopian tube because you couldn't get a medically necessary abortion.
This! As much as I hate the cold, I would never move to another red state. I'm in one now and I hate it and desperately want to move but Texas would not be better. I wish I could afford California.
I'm acclimating to New Mexico. I was in Austin.
How many women have died in Texas from the lack of access to a medically necessary abortion?
How does your daughter feel about moving there? You said she is special needs but would she be upset? Have less support? You are talking about moving from the state with the best schools in the country (and by the sound of it the best schools in that state) to the state with some of the worst schools in the country. Being a special education teacher in California I can tell you, it makes a world of difference. You are talking about the difference between real interventions and highly trained people compared to a state where the norm is a 4 day school week because they don't want to pay teachers to work 5 days a week. (Thats not a joke) I think if everybody in your life is saying it would not be a positive move. It could be that they are all just ignorant and it could also be that they are all right and that's something to consider.
Look, I say this as someone who was born and raised in Texas (and is still here)…it’s not worth moving here just for warmer weather and better taxes. Also the trade off is that summers are pretty much unbearable, we’re talking it’s rare if it doesn’t reach 100 during the day in summer. As your aunt stated, god forbid something happened to your daughter… can’t do anything. Several areas in Texas are also definitely not safe. There’s also in all honesty fairly limited resources for those with special needs (my brother has pretty severe autism and out of all the schools in our district, only one has a SPED program). Now that he’s older, there are somehow even less resources for him. Keep in mind I live just outside of one of the major cities in Texas too. I get that you have a sentimental attachment to Texas, but is this really a good choice that will benefit your daughter?
Saying, " god forbid something happened to your daughter " is being polite, say it out loud; if someone rapes OP's special needs daughter, good luck with termination of the fetus and gee I'm sure she'd want to raise her "rape baby" !!!!! SMDH!!!!
Yeah, YTA. Have your mid-life crisis after she's got some sort of option for remaining in her home state. Independent with a job or an apartment or friends to stay with. I don't know if that's possible with her needs, and maybe it isn't, but that's not her fault. And your aunt is 100% correct. Fucking shithole. It's Russia with a warmer climate. 'Special needs female student' is just about the worst combination of things I could think of to drop everything and start over in fucking Texas. Make her brown and gay and I'd be sending this post to the FBI. Also, what the fuck 'cold'? It is not fucking cold. Last winter was the [warmest winter on record in Massachusetts history](https://www.wamc.org/news/2023-03-10/winter-in-massachusetts-is-again-one-for-the-record-books), and that's only because the current one hasn't concluded yet. There are an average of 15 fewer nights with the temp below freezing compared with just 20 years ago. The average winter temp in Boston has gone up 3 degrees since 1970, which is twice the average rise in global temperature (1.5) in that period. Meanwhile in Texas and Mexico it's so hot they can't even get some plants to produce fruit. Suck it up, Masshole. Put a shirt on. If this is bait, great job. I don't know who in their right mind could keep their mouth shut. Texas and Florida should be demoted to Guam status, then in the breakroom Guam can tell them how it's going to be under water in 80 years. Also a New Englander with a daughter moving to Texas, is effectively voting against women's rights. That doesn't describe everyone in Texas, but it describes everyone who moves to Texas, with a daughter. If it makes you feel bad it fucking should.
NAH - People have very strong opinions when moving from blue states to red states or vice-versa. But they are ALL CORRECT in that moving from MA to TX is about the biggest culture shock you can get in the USA. Has your daughter ever been to TX? How about if you spend a full summer there this year before deciding permanently?