A visit an discussion of schools

" Did you know the post road is backed up to one lane" My friend asked at 9:45AM
"nope, I'm still in bed" I replied - thankful to be there.
"well I know another route so I'll still be there by noon-ish." she said
" OK call if you get lost" I said and dozed back off

My Friend from New England ( the really SOUTHERN part) was on her way to see my "not so new" home. And Bringing a toy to test drive with my cats. They are so spoiled those boys.

She got here, I gave her the tour including the the horrible GRAY bathroom, the bedroom that charms me to know end and my Living room with my new tree!

We had some tea and tortured my cat with a remote control mouse. He finally got tired of chasing it and picked it up in his mouth and carried it around. He's such a brute!

Then we went to a local Hibachi style Japanese restaurant that I LOVE. We had a great time. She didn't stay for long, but I showed her around town and some of the historical buildings and odd things that make up the town that I lived in. The fiber of the town if you will. I have lived in this town on and off for most of my life and I can say with certainty that, other than a major city, there isn't a town in suburbia quite like this one.

When I call it a melting pot, that would be an understatement. We are a community that celebrates Christmas and Hanukkah, but also boxing day and Three Kings day ( known in the US as epiphany) just to name a few. The PR day parade is not just limited to NYC either. We have one here. We have a large Hispanic, black and Caribbean culture in this town. I am the minority.

We have so many varying degrees of income here too across all cultural sections. From the very wealthy ( less than 5%) to the average ( about 70 %) to the impoverished ( less than 5%) and then we have the odd thing, 20% of the school taxes are based on kids that do not live in the community and attend our schools il-legally for lack of a better word. They attend our schools by putting an address down that's valid and then having someone pick them up and drop them off at that address or they take the train in.

The reasons are somewhat valid although I can say for sure that I do not agree with them. Most of us in town don't as a matter of fact. Our school system provides a Bi-lingual Kindergarten. Which I think is very important and a stroke of brilliance. What a great way to help these children integrate into a new life in a new country. But it doesn't end there. Our schools offer the full curriculum up to graduation in the alternate language. Here is where I disagree. It pigeon-holes kids so they have no opportunity to improve their language skills and go on to college and have a career that might give them a better life. I really have an issue with a school district that segregates kids and the programs that they initiate are actually fostering the segregation than tearing it down.

Additionally our district belongs to the un-official program "no child left behind". No funding for this program, a great idea in theory, but when you can't even clearly identify the children that actually live in the district versus those are attending subversively there really isn't a way to get this program off the ground. This program makes sure that no child gets left back. It's largely based on the standardized tests for the State. I don't understand how you can take a bell curve and skew it so that all children fall into the same categories. I am no statistician ( ask anyone!) but something seems rotten in Denmark. I love the idea but I don't think my district's execution is truly benefitting the children.

Part of the "busing in the bad element" issue has been corrected. Now the HS in the town directly north of us has re-opened and that is supposed to relieve us of some of the "bad element" that was coming from the Corridor. I do have to say that either I have learned to turn a blind eye ( which I doubt) or else I really don't see that element here like I did in the past. There was always a concern as the corridor is not that far away and it can always seep back in if we aren't vigilant but I do happen to know that most parents are crazy vigilant about those elements and education about that kind of element and dare I use the word (shhh we don't speak the names aloud) is happening in the home now. Most importantly the signs of that kind of activity have gone by the way side. I simply don't see it like I did in my childhood. I am ever vigilant as a precaution but it's really improved.

Due to the major cultural diversity here, we get school grants way above and beyond what most districts get and slowly our schools are improving. But I don't see any effort being made to make life for the children easier from an integration standpoint. I did see a major renovation done to the school administration building. it's gorgeous. and if 10 kids per year grace it's doorstep I would be shocked. To be fair to those folks who work there that place was run down when my dad had his office there 25 years ago - so it was overdue but still not to the degree it was done. Italian marble? I have to be seriously concerned at what they are using that money for. I do realize that you have to use it up to get more. But like that????

We give speeches to the student bodies now in two languages in the High School. Most recently for a scholarship. If you want to be fair about it - it's necessary but I don't think that we should make things this easy. Yes I think a translator is neccessary for anything involving the parents, but just the kids? No. I think that we do them a dis-service at learning the language side by side with what's spoken at home if we use translators in every day life.

In my tour around town with my friend today, we talked about this. In her sleepy New England town ( near Martha Stewart by the way), this kind of thing doesn't go on. But in the town where she grew up and lived until 7 years ago it still happens to this day. She has the same feelings that I do and commented that my town looked very similar to that one. She also mentioned that by busing kids in and having those kids subversively brought in, their parents are trying to pave the way for a better life for them.

On the one hand I agree with her, but on the other hand I beg the question - at whose expense? I have no problem paying tax money to help my community educate the children. I have no problem donating additional time and money to help kids who have a need. Hell, I am Kiwanian - that's what we DO. Our goal is to help the children of the world one child at a time. But I think people who are taking advantage of the system are really putting a lot of additional pressure on the economy of this incorporated village and the grant money that we get does get chewed up much faster than I think it aught to.

Most of my friends with kids send them to catholic school in the next town after kindergarten. That to me speaks louder than anything else. I want to see this district improve so that our parents are comfortable sending their kids here. I want to see the kids that need help learning english get that assistance and I want to see this community work together to bridge over these gaps. Education-wise, while we have the right idea, we have the wrong execution and while it makes things easier for the ids NOW, they pay in the long run. Community-wise, our kids are paying dearly for being bused in and out, snuck in and out via train or what have you. They don't get to participate in their community, they don't get to be in after school activities and they are leading separate lives - one home life and one school life with no bridge between.

It was a fun visit. We had a great time. Our chat's really brought this particular issue to light for me in a very specific relief. It's tough to be an educator AND a tax payer at the same time.

But it made me really think about these situations and the ramifications of them.