I want to express my motivation for the purpose of transparency. My personal motivation comes from the trying to sort out the Kafkaesque system of education.
Echoes of the anxiety and worries as well as the pride reverberate inside my core as I look at photos of my only child’s first day of school. Sentimental emotions gush from me when I see her perfectly pressed blue uniform and knee-high socks with a pink book bag nearly consuming her. A short grainy video clip is proof of her bravery as she walks in line with the other children waving and screaming bye at the top of her voice in to the school doors.
Sending her to public school was a leap of faith. Faith that has let me down to some degree. I had no way of influencing policy or curriculum. I hardly new any details of the curriculum nor could find out with appearing to be a “helicopter parent,” hovering over my kid. I didn’t know the teacher, her methods or her abilities. I knew one teacher. Our daughters met in pre-school. His daughter was going to a private school a few blocks away.
So much happened that year, some good and some bad. But what I noticed most was my kid didn’t like school. Now some may say you're not supposed to like school. Though I find that rather dogmatic. School can and should be something the child can love.
Besides, in that first year she was spit on, choked by another kid, her teacher didn’t finish the year. The class size was obviously too large for one person to manage. The principle never engaged in a dialogue and would basically lecture at me. In retrospect they were also breaking some laws, like posting grades and leaving children unattended.
I felt and still feel powerless. Perhaps I can try to get her in a private school. She has already moved to a different school district and seems to enjoy it more but time will tell.
Yet there is a feeling of injustice about leaving all the other kids behind. Those parents and children who must trust the school system to educate remain at their mercy. Or are we?
If we, the public, knew more about the laws, policies and other vital news governing our schools perhaps we can better our schools. Perhaps they are not horrible but the quality of education can always be better.
We need to inform ourselves and communicate with each other to find the ways for improvement. It cannot be done in a vacuum. So I hope this will provide a platform for us to work on this project.
What we need now is to define some key concepts that so we can clearly express our ideas. That is the first step out of the labyrinth of bureaucracy.
To do this I hope to moderate some news stories for everyone's discussion. More later.
