You don't now me, you don't know my kids and you don't know our school. You make a lot of wild assumptions.
1: So you use your school as a babysitter, since the "after school" programs are good? You like the fact the teachers are "at-will" employees that have to worry minute to minute about their jobs. You like union busting?
No, we don't use the school as a babysitter. My kids go to Lego club for an hour once a week. But there are lots of other clubs and sports after school to for students who want them. Although we don't use it, there is before and after care for working families and single parents or anyone else who needs it.
And for at-will employment, I've been at-will ever since I graduated college nd left the unskilled labor force. It does not really bother me if other people are at-will.
2: Your like the character building? Where are you as the parent? Absentee? It's now everyone else's responsibility to raise and build your kid's character. So your "charter school" will have all the responsibility of being your kid's parent, but none of the rights?
Whoa, whoa, whoa. We work on character building at home all the time. I like that our school has more than just a rules manual; they have a philosophy and a plan so I can be sure that the kids are not running amok when they are away from home. The plan give the teachers lots of leeway in dealing with discipline as long as they follow the guidelines.
3: Uniforms? I fought against this as a principal because I realize that conformity ruins critical thought. I remember old news reels of students in school uniforms when I was an undergraduate. . .they were from the 1930s. I had a hard time understanding them because the narration was in German.
Reductio ad Hitlerum. How very original. It's more important what the students learn and do than what they wear. When I was in school, we all worried about whether we dressed cool enough and people formed into cliques - the metalheads in their concert shirts, the "cool" girls and the latest styles and so on. My kids won't have to worry about our ability to get trendy clothes affecting their school experience.
4: Don't these schools do enough damage forcing children to think the same. . .now we want them to dress and act the same?
News flash: They don't think the same.
5: Yes, I was a progressive administrator. This is why I don't do it anymore. I was not an automaton.
Well, I'm glad you're not an administrator anymore. It apparently was not suited to you.
Parents like you make education a real pleasure.
Thank you! We try hard support our scholars and we work to support our school. Oh wait, maybe you meant that sarcastically. In that case,
thank you very much! It's nice to have our efforts appreciated.
I'll quote Rage Against the Machine...
It's funny that you quote a song lambasting bad teachers. The band members grew up around the same time I did. I bet they probably went to a public school with union teachers. Just sayin'.
And you mentioned that you are working at an IB school. Our charter's high school is also an IB school. They've been working on setting up the school for years before the doors even open. I'm really impressed by the dedication the teachers and administrators have.
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