Detroit Area Mustachians... So about those public schools...

[wet.and.wild]

Mustachian in Detroit thinking about having kids. Do I have to move to a more expensive suburb? (Note: Detroit is not like other places. This is an important question).

[arebelspy]

You're actually in the city itself?

Also, if you're just thinking about having kids, that means you have about 5-6 years before you need to answer this question (between time it takes to get pregnant, 9 months of pregnancy, and multiple years before they're school aged), and a lot could change with the city and suburbs itself, if you're even still living there by that time.

[YTProphet]

Mustachian in Detroit thinking about having kids. Do I have to move to a more expensive suburb? (Note: Detroit is not like other places. This is an important question).

I would move. Even the best Detroit schools (Cass Tech, Renaissance, etc) don't hold a candle to other options out there. Get into Grosse Pointe schools to the east or head west and get into Northville/Plymouth schools.

[AllezAllezAllez]

Do not even consider DPS for your kids - total disaster, rotten from the core, not to mention their ongoing financial catastrophes. If you want to stay in the city or in less expensive burbs, there are some good private options, and some of the Catholic schools are reasonably affordable. If you want public education (but why would you, with all the stupid bubble-testing and commoncorecrap?), you need either the Grosse Pointes (advantage: close to the city; disadvantages: expensive housing and extreme antimustachianism) or north (Birmingham/Bloomfield/Troy, even Royal Oak probably ok) or West (Farmington/Northville/Canton). IIRC  a few other districts have gotten International Baccalaureate programs going - you might look for these.