I am so frustrated that EVERYTHING is consumer-driven now! When I was a kid my parents just bought a house in a nice neighborhood that they could afford and sent us on the bus or down the street to our neighborhood school. My mother didnt wring her hands about the school fitting me...she just sent me. (And since she was at home, she volunteered in the school. She worked with other parents to improve it. In Kindergarten when I lived in Detroit, she worked to have our Kindergarten more play based, in 3rd grade in Grand Rapids, she was the volunteer librarian... etc.). Other kids parents who worked, did what they could... or not. Now we have all of these young parents (comfortable economically, mind you) in our school district here who are seeking their public school the way they sought their preschool. They feel like, its like food or something, choose your organic soap. And I get that. I have 4 kids and I understand the anxiety and overwhelming responsibility of doing right by them. BUT, you will not find the perfect placement. There will be a great school and then, by jove, they might have a bad experience with a teacher or a bully or something. Do you take your ball and go home? Do you give your kid the help to face that situation and work with the school administration and teachers to improve? This is not meant as a slam to my friends at the charter school in town. That school is a great school and some schools struggle. But the idea of being consumers, of schools being a product for consumption, that if we dont like it, we dont FIX it, we just move on to the next. That is for the privileged. Look at the choices that poor people have in Chicago.. they cant get in their mini van and drive to a school on the other side of town. THAT is privilege. I am also sick of the cost-benefit analysis for something so BASIC as a childs right to a high quality education or to BEING FED FOR GODS SAKE. We are a sickeningly wealthy country. All children should have high-quality FREE tax-paid public education and they should all be fed and have health care. I guess Im a socialist like the Tea Party folks said (the ones who kicked me off of their page, Karin Babcock.. but brought your and my kindred spirits together in cyber space). We used to fix toasters like on Sesame Street. Now we throw them out and buy new ones. We arent used to FIXING ANYTHING in this country. We just throw it out and buy again. ARE WE GOING TO FIX OUR DEMOCRACY OR SHOP FOR ANOTHER ONE? SOMEONE IS BUYING THIS DEMOCRACY (Koch brothers, ALEC) as we speak. Geesh. Sorry for the rant. Either I had a mental break just now or I am just blowing off steam from a stressful week fighting charters. Someone get me a pill. Good morning.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 14:35:53 +0000
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