Still out on the road, and very much looking forward to getting home tonight and sleeping in my own bed...
I got a weird email today from someone…I won’t mention the person’s name via email, but feel free to comment if you want people to know who you are. I am not sure why this bothered me, but it did.
Long story short, it said that I seem to talk a lot about how great private school is and that I shouldn’t write it as if I am disparaging public schools, and that just because a school has a he tuition bill doesn’t mean it is a good school.
Not that I disagree, I just find it really weird that it came to me. It’s not like I am widely-read authority on schooling, after all. Who the fuck cares what I think, and why should I feel like I need to make soapbox speeches in support of public schools? I don’t really see where this is my responsibility. But I am willing to defend my decision making (even if I don’t know why I need to.)
First of all, I live in Boston and the Boston Public Schools are simply terrible. I am not going to send her to a shitty school if I don’t have to. I have been told that when kids are entering 7th grade they should look into Boston Latin School, which is a public school but one you have to get admitted to, and I will do that when the time comes.
And I don’t think it is a good place for her because it costs a lot. I think it is a good place because her classes are small, the teachers are committed, the parents are involved, the facilities are remarkable, the curriculum is challenging and the resources available to the kids to tackle that curriculum are fantastic. It is also within a five minute walk of where we live and where I work, so she is never far from me and I can get her to and from school easily.
Also, I got the schools annual report the other day and they listed the college destinations of last years graduating seniors. There were 23 kids, and I think 3 went to Harvard, 3 MIT, 3 Yale, 2 Princeton, and then one each to Dartmouth, Northwestern, Stanford, Oxford, Duke, Berkely, Cal Tech and places like that. The "dumb" kid from the class went like the University of Virginia or something. I don’t care what the tuition is; they are doing something right over there.
So yes, I just wasted ten minutes writing a response that I had no reason to write. But whatever, I felt like it:-P
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Yesterday Voice Mail, today Email
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5 comments:
I just left a comment, but it disappeared into bloggerspace. Anyway.. many public school systems suck. I know for sure that most of the public schools in FL are horrible. There is nothing wrong with wanting to put her in private school. Nothing.
ps.. I want to commend you for taking care of your sister! Kudos to you.
Thanks Jordan, I appreciate the kind swords. Is that you in the picture? If so...you're hot...hee hee.
There are actually a lot of really good public schools around here, just not in the city. A lot of the suburbs have great school systems, but that would require me moving, which I don't want to do.
AM, there should be no reason that you should have to defend the reason you send Munchkin to private school. Lots of parents do it whether they have the money or not. Private schools are there for a reason and obviously many people go to them.
Mr. ESPN went to private school. He made the choice to go cause he didn't want to be in the public schools around here. His parents certainly didn't have the money so his grandfather offered to pay if that's what he truly wanted.
If Munchkin is happy being in that school, then let her make her choice. It's not like she is fighting you to go to public school. Besides, she is obviously doing well there so why bother moving her out of that school where she has friends and she is a great student!
bztoviu
Public schools cater to the average student and god help a student who deviates significantly from the mean. I would never in a million years send my kid to a public school if I could afford to send them to a better school, and I do not care if that is private or Catholic, or whatever. I was a semi-gifted child and my mother was told that I would have been better off if I had been born with a learning disability because the school did not have time for me. If a kid has the desire for knowledge, send them to the best damn schools in the country. Fuck public school.
Regardless of the merits of private and public schools, I don't understand at all how you've asserted a view on the subject. All you've said is that Munchkin attends a private school & enjoys it. Maybe I missed a post somewhere, or maybe someone is just looking for something to complain about:)
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