Wow, you could pick up the irony with a magnet...

Yeah, I know my taxes are paying for public school and I pray every day my public schools go to failing schools so I can get my voucher to pay some of my sons tuition in private school.


It pisses me off the public school gets my money.

My experiance with our private school is 180° from what we went through with public. Thats my point. If you pay for the school out of your own pocket and its being run like a public school. Take your business elseware. Thats the beauty of private school.

I don't see what's offensive about that. If they'd taught you that in school, you wouldn't be complaining about your kid's education today!

I said I love this. OT at its best - wide open topics and let the fun begin... I am not fan of public school and have not since I was in them (got the regents thingy too.)

Public whatever just stinks. The subway this morning - delayed for the fifth time in five working days.. You get the feeling the system is run for the benifit of the transit workers - their work rules, their pensions and healthcare, their pay scale and shifts. Moving people from A to B? Well, that is just an excuse to spend the money - not the focus.

As for Montessori schools - I have heard nothing but good things. I think in England they are called Steiner schools. Good luck.

http://concordspedpac.org/IQ-bell.JPG
Full Scale IQs between 90 and 110 are considered within the "average range" (Mean IQ score is 100).

You have to know the difference between "average" and "mean average".:)

That is a fair representation of the way things used to be, unfortunately it's not that way anymore.

one thing is everyone takes the same test IQ 80-180 they all take the same test

another thing the test(even math tests) are as much as test of reading as anything else, calculators are used, at least from JHS on. The curriculum is a mile wide and an inch deep so they nevwer truely master any feel for #s, which is the foundation for algebra etc.

The whole system is a train wreck being driven by the so called accoutability police(who are they accountanble to by the way??)

Maybe you need to pick the teachers better? My wife volunteers 3x week and does HW with kids everyday. She has hand picked their teachers thus far (K-4th grade) with outstanding results. Other parents have similar experiences and the main similarity is that they participate. Parents that don't invest the time, energy, or interest get the scraps and hope for the best. Schools say parents don't get to pick but we all know that's a crock.

Can it be improved...definitely, but there are alot of GREAT teachers in the public schools these days. You need to find them and not accept any less. My position on home school is that the kids get a personally tailored program, and home cooked meals :), but miss out on all the social interaction the school grounds offers. I'm not comfortable with them missing that.

I know! Let's blame this on the gubmit and the unions!

How does she handpick the class? Its against our disctrict rules. We tried to get him changed from a class at the beginning of the year and the priciple and GC both said no it was against policy. They would be spending all their time changing classes if they allowed it.

Your wife obviously has gotten you kids special treatment in the school. Good for you, I hope your wife can volentter the entire time they are in school and nothing in your life changes to stop that.

By your own admission schools don't have to care about kids who have parents who both work and are too busy to volenteer. Then those kids get the crappy teachers and the poor education.

That is sad.

yes, and remember what happened in a school 25 years ago is indicative of what is happening now.

no, it isn't sad, it's bull*****. At least at my school, and all the schools I've interacted with so far in LA Unified. Are there issues? Of course. But to make blanket statements about all teachers being lazy and nobody caring is just flat out false, at least here.

If there truly is a problem you can change classes and teachers (again, at least in LA Unified). You have to be polite yet adament. And you have to learn the system and use it to your advantage.

He said he pickes his kids teachers before the school year starts. In my district its against the rules.

When I was having problems with my sons teacher this past year, I took it to a MINI forum where I knew there were about 6 school teachers in Florida on there.

What I gained from my interaction with them was that the teachers know which kids parents are on the PTA and active in the school and they get better treatment and the teacher walks on egg shells with them knowing the power of the PTA and its ability to make their life miserable.

Todd, I am not rude to my sons teachers and I am not putting them down now. They are doing their job, as instructed, the the administration. I have always took up for teachers, even the mean ones, telling my son to keep his head down and get through his 45 minutes with them and he will be fine. Just do the work.

But now that I have pulled my kid out of there and I am seeing how much better he is doing I cannot help but wonder WTF was going on in there and why an adult feels the need to beat down a little kid?

Not all teachers are bad but you know how the saying goes....

I didn't say that. Parents who don't look out for their kids get what they get. A parent should also consider a teachers style and personality. What works for some kids may be a total failure for others. This is why the parents need to be involved. Talk to the principal and teachers. Show them you want to work WITH them and that you want to do whatever it takes to help. Learn your rights as a parent and politely, but firmly, leverage them to best accomodate your child.

Yeah and the speed limit on the I-15 is 65mph...
I don't pick the teachers. My wife is the guilty party but does it with the help of the alliances she has built at the school. It's all about working as a TEAM.

You see, I am not a pushy person. When we requested to have our sons class changed at the beginning of the year we were given the "its against the rules and if we allowed that it would be a madhouse" answer.

So we accepted this was a rule that applies to everyone and delt with the teacher. A lot of damage was done to our sons self esteem that year. Talk to your kids like they are dogs every day and see how well they develope.

So, your saying if a parent is not kissing ass in the school your kid will suffer? But not in so many words. Its more you can get the school to break the rules for you if you play the game right. I did not know school was a game.

Jim, sorry to hear about your son's bad experience. I'm in no way saying you are wrong or not attentive enough. My "Maybe you need to pick the teachers better?" comment came off rude and I appologize. I'm just saying it would be worth a couple evenings research to find out exactly what rights you and your son has. Our school initially tried the "can't" routine but have since come around nicely once we called a meeting with the district, principal, and teacher. We never were rude, pushy yes, but in a good way :)

We are friends with the teachers and staff these days. You can call it "kissing ass" but if it gets results for our kids then so be it.

Nothing against you you care about your kids and that is admirable.


I have my opinions about our school district in particular and they are harsh.

School Districts are nothing but Bureaucracys. Nothing good comes out of a one size fits all mentality except low cost disposable goods.

Jim, it really just depends on how hard you want to push. No rule is ironclad. I have found that you need to be an advocate for your kid, and hopefully you can get an ally either in the teacher or local admin. Asking once and going away when they say "no" doesn't cut it. You have to press them on why, and indicate that the problem must be solved, so how can we work together to figure this out. If you go away, you are no longer a problem for them and are quickly off their radar. If you are in their office every day, believe me they will figure out a way to accomodate you and your kid.

Well from my perspective 98.6% of U all are gits to me...subject to be pushed down the stairs.