This saddens me

Gay teen’s family blames school for death

I understand loss, but I cannot comprehend the loss of a child.  I cannot imagine the sorrow the parents must feel when their son’s life was taken by a classmate.

But I think it’s wrong to blame the school for allowing their son to express himself.  Larry King’s school was more accepting of his identity exploration than his own parents.  I’m saddened for their loss, but also for their denial.

More public school fun

Someone please explain to me how a child, that has been “gifted” her entire life, can all of a sudden not be.  Could it be because the tests of three previous school districts, and the independent tests of the family center at UNT were somehow flawed?  Or is it the system at her current school? 

If you’ve been following, you know that Amy had some bad grades last semester.  I’m very proud to report that she is currently making all As in her classes, including the advanced ones.  I know that doesn’t make a child “gifted” though.  And though at first I wasn’t going to, I do think I will call and ask about their testing methods.  Not to raise a stink, but to figure out what they are considering to have changed from her previous tests. 

I let her read the letter I recieved from the school district, and though she was tearing up, she didn’t take it too badly.  I told her also that in a year from now, she might get completely different results again, depending on what tests they use and who is giving them. 

So, share the love for my formerly gifted, now un-gifted child.

What is appropriate teacher behavior?

First, let me say that I understand my daughter can be a challenge.  Combining teenage hormones with ADHD does not make for the most predictable child.  She has been known to attempt to rephrase a question to the point of aggravation of the part of the listener.  But what is the appropriate reaction of a teacher when personalities clash?

Yesterday was their first day of regular school after two TAKS test days (another subject altogether).  Her English class is third period.  Now, they start teaching patterns very early in grades, kindergarten, 1st grade.  I’ve seen it on Dora the Explorer.  So if you have a “free” period for your first two classes, judging by that pattern, you might anticipate the next class to be the same.  But to be sure, you ask the teacher. 

In this case, the teacher responds, no, why would you think that?  You answer, and tell her, because the first two classes were that way.  She gives you a look, and then walks off.  Since this is still in-between classes, and the bell hasn’t rang, you go to your locker.  And while you’re at your locker, you hear that particular teacher retelling the conversation you just had with her to another teacher, using a different voice for yours.  What would you think?

I’ll tell you what the parent thought.  Better yet, I’ll tell you what the parent did.  I called the school as soon as I heard of the incident.  And yes, this is THAT teacher.  As calmly and rationally as I could, I explained to the principal that my daughter has felt like this teacher doesn’t want her in her class, and that there was an incident prior to where this teacher told me of her grades in a completely different class before I had heard it from that teacher. 

Still following me?  After Amy had been at her new school a bit, I got a progress report from this teacher, saying she wasn’t bringing supplies to class.  Yup, that par for ADHD.  But what made it a bit more interesting is that this teacher doesn’t allow the students to bring their book bags into class.  So I signed the progress report, and added a note asking if that might be contributing to the problem, adding my phone number. 

She called me the next day, and said it might be but the rest of the class was used to it since they’ve been there the entire school year.  I explained to her that Amy’s medicine was changing, and to give her an opportunity to change.  I also asked for suggestions from her what we can do to help.  That question was met with much resistance, but by the end of the conversation, we figured out a temporary solution, even though I felt exhausted by the end of the call.  She had also told me that she had heard my daughter was failing science, and that if she couldn’t bring her supplies she should not be in an advanced class.

My daughter is completely capable of doing advanced work.  It wasn’t the scores on her tests this woman was complaining about, it was her not bringing things to class or turning things in.  For the record, the last test my daughter took in this class recently, a vocabulary test, she scored a perfect 100.  But my bigger problem was that she was telling me about another class altogether.  And coincidently, an hour later, I got a call from the counselor, telling me the science teacher had wanted her to call me.  I repeated what I had told the English teacher, that her medication was changing to and to give it a few more weeks.  But I was not happy by what seemed to be a sudden strike in one day against my child on two fronts.

I gave it time.  Her grades have come up a lot, and on her report card yesterday, her science teacher included the comment, “positive change in attitude noted.”  But what happened yesterday, and I do believe my daughter here, was completely inappropriate.  They may not have realized my daughter was in the vicinity, but if she was able to hear, other students were also.  That conversation should have never happened where it did.  Now, the mocking part, that was just juvenile on her part. 

The principal asked to meet with Amy this morning, hopefully separate from the teacher.  I let Amy decide if she wanted me there, and in the end she decided she would go alone.  Right now, I’m just thankful this school year is almost over.

 

We are ready for kindergarten!

The orientation went so smoothly!  I didn’t get an ounce of flak about not having a shot record, and the nurse was completely cool with the letter we had.  While I was filling out paperwork, one of the teachers took him off to evaluate him.  He passed the alphabet screen, letter sound screen, and number screen.  He apparently passed with flying colors, one of benefits of him missing last years cutoff by about six weeks.  He’ll be one of the oldest in his class as a result. 

I know that mothers brag – that’s part of our job.  But Brody has an interesting mathematical gift.  Starting probably over a year ago, he somehow learned to add numbers in his head…normal you say.  But he adds more than two numbers at a time in his head, and is usually right with the results.  They’re single digit numbers, but he’s being doing larger ones lately.  And if I can continue to brag, his vocabulary tends to blow me away.  Yes, he has another benefit of being raised with a teenage sister and a mother that doesn’t talk down to him.  But he actually surprised me the other night when draining his bath, he pointed out the “vortex” at the drain.  I guess second kids don’t get left too far behind always. 

Texas immunization laws and the Turkey Boy

First a bit of medical background.  My son, affectionately know as the Turkey, Turkey Boy, Turkey Sandwich, Super Turkey, Turkey Skywalker, etc, was diagnosed when he was a little over a year old with IgAD – Immuno globulin A deficiency.  This is an immune system deficiency, essentially.  Since this particular Ig guards the mucous membranes, what happens is that any ookies that could get through to him that way will.  What is more interesting is that this is hereditary, and it wasn’t until a few years after his diagnosis that I got mine of Rheumatoid Arthritis, one of the possible later complications of his disease (another would be Lupus).

I have in the past had his doctors send a note to his daycares to inform them that because of the immune system deficiency, he has not had the required immunizations.  I don’t get a lot of flak usually, but today is the Turkey’s kindergarten roundup, which means a new school for me to present his exemption to.  When I presented the dr’s note and a print out from the web on his condition to his current preschool, the director told me of the procedures for getting him into kindergarten this year.  She said I would have to mail something to Austin, get something notarized, and more and more.  But from my research, that’s only for exemptions of conscience, which is not quite the case here.  For the record, my 13yo is vaccinated, and she and I have even discussed the Gardisil vaccine.  According to what I’ve read, my doctor’s letter should be good enough for a lifetime exemption, since this is a lifetime condition. 

So now, armed with my note on Brody’s doctor’s prescription pad, I get to face the schools this afternoon.  And you guys know how I dread school officials.  I even had an anxiety dream this morning about missing the first part of the “meeting” and being embarassed walking in late in front of all the other parents.  Is it bad that I’m having embarassing school dreams, and it’s not even my school?

Jaw, floor

Yes, I know it’s a cliche, but I could not stop from gawking at the screen. 

Judge: La. schools must stop Bible giveaways

You get the general idea from the title, and please feel free to read the article, but here’s a couple of quotes that stuck out to me:

The ACLU filed the lawsuit for an anonymous family whose daughter said she felt pressured into taking a Bible because she was afraid her classmates would call her a “devil-worshipper” and think she didn’t believe in God. The girl was called Jane Roe and her father John Roe out of fear of retaliation by schoolmates and neighbors, the ACLU has said.

Right, btdt.  Ask Amy about being told many, many times she was going to hell by other students. 

However, the judge wrote, even procedures upheld as neutral for secondary-school students might be out of bounds for “an impressionable young elementary-age child.”

This is why there is no Christian Athlete groups in elementary school, but later, right?

Grade-school children might not understand that the school board was not endorsing any of the materials, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal said in that case.

At Loranger, the table outside the principal’s office also created the impression that the school was endorsing Christianity, Barbier wrote.

This is exactly my point.  Shall I back up to my daughter’s choir concert?  To have a representative of the school, specifically a teacher, stand before an auditorium and to use the phrase, “the true meaning of the season,” in reference to the religious music being sung, that constitutes a public school endorsement of one religion over another.  I did not have a big problem with the music.  I told my daughter, it’s like a play – you wouldn’t necessarily be a murderer in real life, but if it’s written into the part, I expect you to do your best at it.  My issue was the endorsement, and the fiasco that followed.

Regardless of their personal beliefs, our educators needs to be a bit more sensitive to the fact that their students do not have the same beliefs.  What if you were the only redhead in a classroom full of blondes, and the teacher made the comment that she really liked blonde hair.  You would feel left out, wouldn’t you?  You would feel like she prefers other students to you, even though your hair has nothing to do with your capacity to learn.  Following me here?

But my jaw truly dropped when I read the survey results following the article.  Two-thirds of those who voted in the informal poll disagreed with the decision!  And to those two-thirds, I would like to pose this question, would your answer change if the table was full of free copies of the Qu’ran?*

And ftr, I have nothing against the Qu’ran.  I am strictly using it as an example.  I strongly advocate educating oneself of every religious view one can.  

 

Perhaps completely unrelated, but worthy of note

My daughter is having the most trouble in two particular classes since she’s reenrolled in public school. One teacher in particular rubbed me the wrong way during a phone conference I had with her, but I had been trying to blow it off. However, Amy tells me that she clashes with this teacher almost on a daily basis.

So yesterday, Amy told me that another teacher had to leave early, and her class was shuffled to the above-teacher’s classroom for the rest of the period. Amy asked that teacher why. Now, I know my daughter, and she can be a bit of a smartass. What came next honestly sounded like Amy was probably goading her a bit with the conversation, but the teacher said to her something like, ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer.

She didn’t call Amy stupid, but I have a big problem with the word itself. Anyway, I told Amy I wasn’t going to call the teacher, since it sounded like she probably wore the woman a bit first. However, you all should know me by now – I will let things drop, but they will stay catalogued just in case more evidence comes to light later.

Like today. I googled this particular teacher with a very unique name. School stuff, school stuff, school stuff, ah, this is more interesting: she and her husband are political contributors to a couple Republicans in the area. Specifically, Tommy Merrit, State Representative for District 7. And what does Mr. Merrit list as some of his highlights of last year? Here:

• HB 1034 – HB 1034 was coauthored by Representative Merritt. This bill will add the words “one state under God” to the Texas state pledge of allegiance. This bill passed the House 142-1.
• HB 3678 – He also co-authored HB 3678 which clarifies first amendment rights of students at school and authorizes the school district to adopt and implement a policy that establishes a limited public forum and permissible forms of religious expression by students. The bill passed in the House by a 107-28 vote and became effective immediately on June 8, 2007.

Great.

No reservations about men in mascara

So, and update has been long overdue from my camp. I’ve been so terribly busy doing absolutely nothing, it would seem. We moved to the other side of the city last month, and Amy enrolled in a different school district. I hate myself for how pessimistic I’ve become towards the public school system. I keep trying to put myself in the proper frame of mind, to not look for the negative. So far, I’ve been ok, but my head cries out for a new situation. You know, the one where I win the lotto and am able to homeschool her with the energy and time I don’t have as a WOHM. I don’t know how I’m going to react next school year when I put Brody in public school for the first time. I remember Amy’s first week of public kindergarten, her school managed to lose her twice in the first week, perhaps engaging my panic button with from the very beginning.

We still have a million boxes to unpack. We went dropped a lot of square footage in exchange for a cleaner, safer place in a decent school district, and it seems like we might be on top of each other sometimes. Again, that’s probably due to the boxes everywhere. The unpacking project got slammed to stop a few weeks ago when I managed to find the flu, or it found me here at work. After two days straight in bed, taking the boy to preschool in my pajamas, and tossing an open box of Dora the Explorer cereal on the table for dinner, the boy got it next, and then the girl. What’s sad is that none of us yet have fully recovered. It’s been over two weeks, and I still feel like parts of my lungs are trying to escape their confinement of my chest.

For the next bit of fun news: I’m headed to Corpus Christi this weekend. The kids will be on their way to Ft Worth for Spring Break, and I have the luck of training a new staff member down on the coast. The first plan was to send her here, but I suppose I got the privilege of travel since I’ve been with the company for a while. I have no clue what to do with my tiny bit of free time I’ll have while that close to the beach! I hope I’ll be creative enough not to hole up in the hotel room watching HBO, and that I’ll have the strength after that drive to find someplace fun to play. Any suggestions?

And that’s really about it. My social life is still in hibernation for the winter. Though after long consideration, I have come to the conclusion, though somewhat random, that I really, really dig guys in makeup. Not necessarily dresses, though that’s kind of cute, but pretty, pretty faces. Damn you Nick Rhodes and Eddie Izzard. Now, if I could only convince Anthony Bourdain that he’d look that much sexier in eyeliner…

I hate public schools.

Let’s just get that out of the way. Sure, there’s a deal of guilt involved with that statement, guilt over not being home to educate my children myself. I understand the need for social interaction, but I felt my daughter learned the most when she was homeschooled.

Now on to the matter at hand, which at the moment is my disdain for my daughter’s Junior High. When we moved, I struggled to keep her in this particular school district, as word of mouth had it the neighboring district was not nearly as good (see earlier entry). The half-year she had been in had for the most part pleased me, with the exception of one particular teacher and two incidents dealing with her. So why had she already opened her brand new box of Kleenex in the first hour of school, because to wipe away her tears?

Over a month ago, I registered my daughter for 7th grade via the district’s website. They did not update our home address. A few weeks ago, the website stated that online registration was closed, and but you “may” register your child on the dates they listed.

Monday morning, I got my first call of the school year from the office, barely after eight. My daughter was crying – they didn’t have her registered. I was livid. I had to leave work and drive fifteen miles to the school. I did not scream at anyone, though I did let a couple f-bombs drop almost under my breath. After ten minutes, they found the online printout, which was incomplete. It was then, after school had started, that I was informed that even though I registered online, I had to register at the school also, so they could have the mandatory family composition paperwork that claimed I wasn’t a migrant field worker. And that it was necessary for them to have the form signed stating I was not interested in being a VIP parent (?) or free lunches before she could get her schedule and books.

I got a little creative filling out the forms, answering, “why is this important,” “none of your business,” and “not legal,” on the line where I was told they can charge $15 for me to retrieve my daughter’s cell phone if they steal it from her. On the corporal punishment form, my answer was, “touch my child and I’ll hit you back.” Once I turned in the redundant papers, we were given her schedule, which, of course, was wrong. The child that is taking two instruments this school year in band wasn’t even in a single band class. It seemed the elective paperwork they had on file was not even signed by me, blaming my daughter for not turning in the form I did approve. And one little shit, apparently a student helper, insisted more than once that my daughter never turned it in at the end of last year, repeatedly, despite the fact that he wasn’t even at the same school. One of the aides in the office actually shushed him and pretty much pushed him out of the way, as I was about to lose it on him.

Why can’t I let it go? Because of my religious sensitivity. Recently, Texas passed the Schoolchildren’s Religious Liberties Act. At first, this seemed like a good idea to me, protecting my daughter’s religious expressions in school. But there was no mention of it in her school handbook. And this act does not protect the teacher’s religious expression, which my daughter has already witnessed by more than one of her new teachers. Her science teacher has a statement about the Ten Commandments over his door on the inside of the classroom. Another teacher showed her class the slideshow of her summer, including parts of her mission trip. And still another has a bible quote, though smaller, near her desk.

My daughter doesn’t want to say anything. I don’t blame her – I remember being twelve. Anything you do to stand out could brand you. She told me how much she was looking forward to science, and how she didn’t want to say anything since she didn’t want him to retaliate. She said the Ten Commandment poster was distracting. This is where Mommy has to step in.

I have to convince this small East Texas town that they have a responsibility to abide by the law, and move that stuff out of the classroom, out of the school. I believe they have every right to worship however they choose, but with such a strong influence over the children, it’s completely inappropriate. And I’m not looking forward to this fight, in the land of Beer, BBQ, and Baptist Churches.

Balanced journalism and School Funding whining

This has nothing to do with my personal life, for a change, though I am still very interested in the local education system. When we moved out here, I had to decide which school district to put Amy in, choosing Hallsville over Longview despite the magnet program available. And now I know why.

In this morning’s Longview News Journal, there was an article on the Magnet School, and how it lost out on an opportunity for a grant, at most totalling $4 million a school year for up to the next three years. Why did it lose the opportunity? The application was rejected for being two minutes late. You know me – I want to see the whole story, not just what the small town newspaper chose to print. So I went a’googling, and came up with this. I can understand if you don’t want to muddle through it all, so I’ll break it down for you.

Jennifer Scott, assistant superintendent of administrative and pupil services at LISD claims she attempted three times on the deadline date to submit the application electronically, and that “you don’t know what other information the government may ask for” until the submit button is clicked and another page comes up. However, in my research, these applications were available to download March 9th, seven weeks before the deadline. And from the pdf document linked above, there’s also this warning:

“The amount of time it can take to upload an application will vary depending on a variety of factors including the size of the application and the speed of your Internet connection. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline date to begin the submission process through Grants.gov.” But according to Ms Scott, the mean old internets stoled up to $12 million dollars of education funding.

Maybe we should remember what we were told in class: not to wait until the last minute to finish your homework.