I have 2 kids and my residency rank list will reflect the quality of the public schools where I want to go. My kids go to a public elementary school now where I have to deal with beaurocracy at all levels. Its sad really. Examples of why I don't like public schools here:
1) PE is a 30 minute required subject for all kids in our district, but because the teachers are so concerned about out state's assessment exams, they often skip PE and keep on teaching. So one day I came up and watched to see if they were getting their PE, and they did not. I asked the teacher after school if PE is a required course, and she said yes it is. I asked what they had done that day and she informed me that they had "free play" outside. We had an immediate emergency meeting with the principal and the issue never came up again. But they wonder why the average BMI in our school district is 15% above the national average. There are several type II diabetic kids in this school!! And you just can't ask first graders to go all day without having a play break.
2) They require parents who want to pick up their children after school in cars to form a line around the school in a very specific manner. They have no police or traffic control, and people come from other streets to cut in front and it creates a big fight. Then, because the teacher's union states that teacher's "work period" starts exactly 10 minutes after the last bell, if 11 minutes goes by after waiting in line to pick up your child, the teacher has the right to take the remaining kids in their class to the office where you have to physically go and pick them up. All after waiting in the car line, and now you have to drive out into the neighborhood and find a parking spot, and walk back to the school.
3) If a child has to miss more than 3 days of school for any reason in the year, the only excused absence is to be ill. I would actually like to take my kids on a couple of interview invites so they can give input into the process, so God forbid they also get sick sometime this year. Whatever happened to parents knowing what is best for their children? 2 years ago I only had a daughter in kindergarten, and our Spring breaks were different. So I took her out of school to go see family because it was the only time that year I had any real time off. Of course I had to get her a "doctor's note" for her illness because otherwise she might have to repeat kindergarten. Forget the fact that she scored a perfect score on the assessment exam even before the 2nd semester!!
4) My son is now in first grade, but they don't have enough first grade teachers. So they instead took 7 of the "gifted" first graders and placed them in a newly created "2nd grade bridge course" where they are supposed to be learning how to read (like normal first graders). My son who just started reading the month before is used to words like hat, bat, dog, cat....and now he comes home with spelling words like between, believe, poney, maybe!! My daughter in 2nd grade came home with the exact same words. It took a call to the district and another meeting with the principal to get this resolved and get him learning some first grade stuff.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. The resources available to even the best principals and teachers in public schools is laughable. My kid's school is one of the best public schools in the city. Many of the others are just plain ghetto. So now I am using the web and applying to programs that are in districts with exemplary ratings and above average ratings. And if all else fails, I will take out a bank loan to send them to private schools.
