ADDENDUM: Well it seems calmer heads have prevailed and the red tape has been cut through - for this round. I always know that it will happen, I just don't know how long it will take to cut. Thanks to all for your comments of support. I know that I am in the toughest school system in the Nation. That said, there is a good education to be had as long as you are an active involved parent. So thanks again (and maybe this will get Dr. Minnie Strator off my back). Have a good weekend all.
ORIGINAL POST:
For the the uninitiated - I have two children. We live in a boro of New York City.
My oldest will be 9 and the youngest 5 (within the next 6 weeks so may as well get used to the new ages). A tale of two educations. I know many of you know the names but somehow I'd like this to be a bit more anonymous. Helps with the rant.
Oldest went to PS in our boro up until this year. The switch happened for a number of reasons. Driving the bus was the inability of Oldest to be challenged by anything they threw her way. Except it seemed in behaving. Her boredom drove her to distraction - artwork not always flattering, whatever she felt could fill the time. Through word of mouth and excellent test scores, Oldest has landed a scholarship to a private school. She is thriving and doing well. She has to wake up earlier which as you saw in our last post can be quite the challenge, but if I have to walk her over the 59th Street Bridge, she will not miss this opportunity.
On to Youngest. He has entered the fine NYC Board of Education this very year in Kindergarten. He has issues which need to be addressed in an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) to help him achieve the goals for the year. He has been in a pre-school setting for three years in a school that we loved. It is mid October and we are still ironing out wrinkles in the school's trousers. None of that is so troublesome. What is troublesome is when I go into the Office and see the Vice Principal in the Inner Sanctum busy being busy and so I just knock and enter to the surprise of her and the Principal. Oh Mrs. Lampshade, I know you must want to speak to me but we're having testing today which will start shortly. Well then I'll be brief. I go into my concerns to the nods of the sods with promises to "check into" and "deal with it" and blah blah blah.
The kicker is I get an email this morning praising how well Youngest is doing in blank blank (which I never even raised an issue with) and blah blah (also ?). I send an email back which basically says "don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining". I'm waiting for a reply.
So NYC Board of Education, I know you have a million kids to deal with but to me, mine is ONE IN A MILLION!
Let's cut through the red tape and deal with the issues at hand. Being defensive serves nobody, least of all - my child.
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18 comments:
since it's way past my bedtime, can i just say "first!" for the hell of it... and then come back tomorrow and read and actually comment? i can? whew. xox
Being defensive is the first line of offense against busybodies like yourself, "G."
[Mrs. Weirsdo irrelevantly adds that my verifier word is "mofnukm," which, she babbles, should be read as suggesting a "nuclear" solution to "mo-fos" like myself. I have tried and tried to bring her dangerous terrorism to the public's attention!]
I am sorry that you have to go through that G. Education is a right, and I think a lot of times administrators forget that it is THEY who work for US. (And certainly not the other way around.) I'll be thinking of you....
Neva: You can comment or not whenever you like. I leave a light on for you. ~ xox
Dr. Strator: It seems that way. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail.
On Mrs. Weirsdo, perhaps take out an ad in The Crappy Times or Asinine News.
Brian: You're very kind - thank you so much. That's my job, now if I can only get the school to do theirs.
cj: Thanks cj. Seems my role in life is that of agitator. My mother mentioned that even in the womb there was a light but constant tapping from me.
It's sad but administrators get caught up in so much bureaucracy. I hold out hope though that at the end of the day whatever our rationales are, our goals are the same.
Thanks.
I always used to tell my children, and they've never forgotten, I'm not interested in anyone else... you don't even have to come first or be the best, but you are the only one I am interested in, not Tom, not Dick, not Harry.
Even today with doctors and my son... if they dare to tell me about how bad things are for other patients I won't have it.... our children are our concern, others are for their parents to care about.
Our children have one mother; I won't fight for yours, you won't be fighting for mine, but we will care and support each other.
If we s parents don't watch out for our own children, no one else will.
Have a lovely weekend and Shabbat Shalom....
lotsa luv ann xxxxx
Sadly we have come to the conclusion that the people of who you speak are manufactured or cloned at a central location and then distributed throughout the country. We know this because we have run into the very same in Florida, Virginia, California, Massachussetts, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. What? A gypsy family you ask? No, no...well, not exactly...but that's not the point here...the point is these bad teacher/administrator clones are pervasive and it must be stopped...we must find the factory and destroy it.
"G": I have been advertising in SLAP ("Silly Liberals Aren't People"), the magazine of PALS (People Against Liberals), and also in "D. E. Ad Beat," the professional journal for those possessing a doctorate in Educational Administration! But thank you for your most interesting comments. I will be sure and add you and Joel to my "dangerous criminal minds" list!
Ann: So very well put. Thanks for weighing in. Have a lovely weekend yourself and Shabbat Shalom Booba. ~ G
Joel: You are so right, but I think any anarchy we plan should be off the scenes. A certain "Dr." has taken an interest in my blog and well I don't want to raise suspicions.
dr. Minnie: I'm not familiar with those magazines or that journal. However, I think you have gotten the wrong idea here - really we're just regular cupcake selling PTA parents wanting the best for our children. Surely there's nothing criminal in that?
i hear you and understand, grasshoppah. i am sending you She-Ra psionic planet waves of backup!
xxxxxmmmmmmxxxxxzzzzmmm
there.
ADMINISTRATORS!!! GRR!
You GO, G! Don't let them schmooze you any! Get to the bones. Do like I do on the phone with Blue Cross, I growl when displeased. It's unsettling, more so in person! LOL Great Mom work! I give you an A++ D :}
The trouble is, it's always all about YOUR children, YOU and YOUR family's wants and needs. This is how it always starts, with a thoughtless preconception that institutions are there to meet YOUR needs. Such notions inevitably interfere with our goal of processing the needs of the entire community as smoothly as possible. Would it kill you to give a little thought to the needs of administrators, as we oversee your family's processing?
I'm glad we had this little exchange, and I hope that reports of your improved attitude will enable me to remove you from my lists in a timely fashion.
oooo-wee... that Dr. Minnie Strator is one tough cookie.
as Joel said, the inept school administrator clones are abundant and spread across this country like so much "compassionate conservative" rhetoric. stay firm, stay the course, stay on top of the situation. and stay away from those tough cookies (just kidding Dr. Minnie... don't hit me).
i have the advantage of knowing some of these issues have been resolved even as i type this lame comment... unfortunately, it's not a lame issue, and i suspect we'll be tawking about it again (and often). but for *this* weekend, at least, you can hang your gloves next to the lampshade... and rest up for round 2.
enjoy your weekend, NBFF!! xox
Hey LWTLSOHH(WIL):
with it lit?
Whoa! Nelly ! I usually don't read ALL the comments, but this time was an exception to that 'rule.'
Where have I been...flying on my broom, I guess. Certainly is quite an exchange here. Am I to assume that Doctor Minnie Strator is an Administrator with a PH.D? (piled higher and deeper?) or an Ed.D?
Busybody? Is that what they call concerned parents these days?
Dangerous Criminal Minds list?
How does one apply? I love making lists:
1.
2.
3.
Is that what DMS means?
Having been in public education for almost 3o years, I never heard any administrator question a parent about meeting his/her needs. As educators, we were there to meet the needs of our students. Period. End of sentence !
Family's processing? What is that?
Is this for real?
Improved attitude?
Please tell me this is a joke and I missed the punch line !
Dr. Swampwitch !
Going backwards:
Swampwitch: It is a joke!!! Don't you worry, my blog has not been taken over by some overzealous adminstrator (although "Dr" Minnie Strator would have you believe otherwise). I'll be back in a short while to answer others.
G, my sympathies, you get em girl!
Keep squeaking, just keep squeaking.
Grrrr...
The biggest disappointment of my adult life -- and I mean the BIGGEST -- has been the utter insensitivity (however "polite" and "cordial") of a public school bureaucracy when faced with the task of dealing with an individual child's unique needs.
Like New York's, ours was one of "the best", too. And so, we wasted a lot of time with ours, politely and couteously hoping and waiting until they "got it", which they sometimes showed encouraging signs of doing, but never actually did. Over MANY years.
Oh, they "reassured" us, and "placated" us year after year, but, behind all that lipstick and perfume, they did absolutely nothing.
So, from experience and the bottom of my heart, some advice: screw 'em, and go STRAIGHT to DEFCON 1. Make as much noise, demand as much consideration, insist on being heard, and NEVER leave the room without concrete commitments of practical action from them.
(And, as infuriating an idea as it might be to a taxpayer, you might want to check into a few private schools, too.)
There! Phew, I feel better now. Thanks for letting me vent. :-)
a: Thanks for venting: Ah yes, the polite and cordial dealing with of our concerns - all too familiar. Now I'm getting all riled up again after posting an addendum that we took care of it - this time. Nothing in my life has made me want to kung fu kick somebody from the roof of my home quite like dealing with NYC Board of Ed thusfar.
No child left behind? Ha, they didn't see those under the bus.
You know, a, you are quite right. We are already lining up the ammo for DEFCON 1. If money were no issue, J would already be in private school. But 15-20K a year is a bit onerous for us. Having said that, if this school doesn't deliver, Chancellor Joel Klein better get out his checkbook as we're preparing for that eventuality.
Pfew, thanks for that rant, I feel better...again. And thanks for commiserating from the bottom of my heart. I hear you loud and clear.
Diane, FN, Nevala, and Logo: Thanks for all of your comments of support. Please don't think that my answering in group form makes your sentiments any less touching to me. Thank you all - this is the best support group in the WORLD!
Dr. Minnie Strator: I sincerely hope your suspicions have been allayed. Now enough about me and my silly family - let's talk about test scores!
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