So on Tuesday some of us will be voting for school board members! The hot issues seem to be diversity/bussing and also mandatory year round. Having four kids in the school system, one starting at a charter school this year, and having subbed in the school system for almost three years now, I've come to a few conclusions about these issues.

 The N&O has printed several op ed pieces on both sides of the debate. Yesterday someone wrote that diverse schools better prepare students for life and competing in the global economy. Really? I look at the charter school where my third grader attends, that is admittedly not very diverse, and compare it to the base school that my fifth grader attends (about 50% FRL). I cannot believe the difference and what the charter school is able to accomplish with these kids. My 5th grader wastes HOURS on such things as practicing walking up and down the halls (some kids apparently still haven't mastered that in 5th grade), lots of classroom management issues and "busy work" aimed at simply occupying the time of one group so the teachers can focus on another group. Meanwhile at the charter school the kids are sailing through advanced material at a pace that is blowing my mind. But they'll be LESS prepared for life? Are you KIDDING me?

Having chosen our traditional opt out when our middle school was converted to year round, so that I can keep all my kids on the same calendar, means that now my two oldest have to be out the door at 6:30am to catch the bus, or 6:50 if we drive them. They now go to school across town, instead of across the street, and getting them back and forth to things after school is tough. I keep thinking about the kids all over the county who didn't CHOOSE the location of their school, and how unfair the inconvenience is to them and their parents. It's a very real issue, I assure you.

Mandatory year round...that's another issue. There is absolutely no justification for forcing families to put their own children on different calendars. It's absurd. And I'm living with the consequences of taking the traditional opt out. Not much of an option. 

I just read that President Obama favors more time in school-longer days, longer school year, in order to improve education in our country. I understand that unfortunately home is not a very enriching place for many kids. But for my children, and most that I know, time away from school is so valuable. My kids travel, spend time with family, bicycle through the neighborhood, walk to the public library near our house, go to museums, babysit, pet sit, learn to cook, contribute to our household with chores......they NEED these things. Lumping them in with the group of kids who need school to be a community center, is not effective. Education is not a one size fits all endeavor. Being able to target neighborhoods with what THAT neighborhood needs makes so much more sense to me.

I often hear parents lamenting the early start of school days for teenagers. ...another consequence of bussing and having to stagger start times to accomodate transportation woes.

As someone who has worked in the classroom for almost three years, I so wish I could say "Hey, it's all worth it! These schools are really making a difference." But I'm just not seeing it. In fact, I'm seeing the opposite. Teachers seem so frustrated by trying to meet the needs of such a "diverse" group of kids that it's impossible to give everyone what they need.

I'm so tired of hearing about national awards, and having decisions made by 9 people who don't even have one kid between all of them in the system. Talk to families that are living this every day and find out what it's really doing for them!!

So needless to say, I'll be voting on Oct 6th. I hope you will be too!