Public Education rant

[ChickenAlgebra]

Quote:
Simple. Involved parents.

Public schools are required to accept ALL students. Some who are behind, some who are at grade level, some who are ahead. Some don't have involved parents who are willing to do the extra work to raise a child. Some don't have parents who have the time to do the extra work.

Private schools are not accepting all students. My kids go to a private school now because the public school here doesn't have the right classes for what they are at, but yeah, they take the best and the brightest. So the teachers aren't dealing with every single problem the public school is.

The public school district can't afford to offer the AP/IB classes my oldest kids are taking, so I can't send them to public school. Well, I could, but they would be bored and causing problems in class, which then takes away from every other child.

 

[ChickenAlgebra]

Quote:
Depends on the state. Where I worked in Department of Labor, schools usually have teachers sign a contract that they don't collect UI over breaks. They have a contract to return, so it's a leave of absence, thus not a payable claim.

 

[lowry075]

The original post was about paying for supplies, so I'd like to address that. As a public school teacher, in California, I know I am not allowed to "require" my students to supply anything...not even paper. We have the Williams Act which requires schools to provide all necessary supplies. I now have to write "suggested" school supplies on my curriculum letters. (I personally feel that that is ridiculous).

I am sorry you are feeling frustrated with your child's school. I know that as a teacher, my hands are oftentied by the system, and I am forced to teach things, and do things, I might otherwise not choose to do. I cannot speak for all teachers, but I know I put my heart into my job, and genuinely love my students. It is frustrating to continually hear teachers blamed for all the wrongs of a school system run by people who have never taught in a classroom.

 

[EweSheep]

Can't teachers and schools be frugal?

Can you copy chapter by chapter of a book that is required to buy for the classroom? I know there are some copyright laws but back in those days, we had some copies (but not the entire book). If parents can chip in the cost of a box of papers (not a ream of paper but those big boxes) per student, it can go a long ways.

 

[ChickenAlgebra]

It's for an AP class, which I know was considered a high-level optional at the public school my kids were at prior to moving. Since it's above the requirements for graduation thanks to NCLB, we had to buy more text and such for the kids. If it was basic whatever class, no, we'd not have had to. But AP and IB throw that out the window.

Take into account that AP and IB classes potentially will count towards some college credit. I don't consider it unreasonable to pay for that, you'd pay for it in college.

 

[PotterWatch]

Quote:
I went "knee-jerk crazy" 22 years ago and home schooled mine. The peace was amazing! They are now between 20 and 36 and better educated than most of their peers. They also have a firm grasp of their place in God's universe and their rights and responsibilities as Americans. Just sayin'.

Yeah, I bet the peace was amazing. Sheltered kids bring less racket.

I would say that kids who are happy, engaged, and enthusiastic bring less racket. I still don't know why people think that just because a child is homeschooled, it means they are kept in a little bubble away from the big, bad, scary world.

 

[LegginMF12]

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Agreed! Every weekday I watch school buses from THREE(!) different ISD's (Independent School Districts) pick up the kiddies on a road that is only about 3 miles long. WTH? The savings in fuel alone would amount to a sizable sum.

What they did here to save on labor and gas is switched the school times. One set of buses and bus drivers pick up all of the kids from elementary to high school. The did this by staggering the start time of each type of school. High School starts at 7:00 a.m., Junior High starts at 8:00 a.m. and Elementary starts at 9:00 a.m.. By doing this they eliminated almost 2/3 of their buses and drivers. They only need one set of them instead of three.

 

[mom'sfolly]

I do a lot of photocopying for the PTA. At five cents a page, photocopying prices add up. So one twenty page packet per week per student at my kid's elementary school would be about $850/week.

Teachers do photo copy, they do use online textbooks, they do use textbooks for classrooms, all of it adds up.

I would also say that the $4000 of private school tuition vs $6000-8000 public school per student includes lot of other things. It isn't all about wasteful spending, etc. Again, public schools have to take everyone. They provide sports, music, art, drama, libraries, gyms, special education programs and other things. Not all private schools do. My friend's kids go to private school; initially PE was done in a bus; later they hired my friend to teach PE and Art. She is not a certified teacher and had no background in either subject. Private schools can do that. Many of my friends kids go to a new charter school (public money). They have no gym, the parents are doing fundraisers to build the library, and there is no music program.

 

[Matthew3590]

Like chickenalgebra said. Since it is AP and not required to graduate then they can force you to buy the book. But if you get free and reduced lunch like always you will get it for free. Thats why you have to pay for it, because it is optional.

Also, I must be very lucky because the first time I had to pay for texts for school were books we would read in class my sophomore and junior year.

 

[ChickenAlgebra]

We don't pay for AP or IB text now, but they are at a private school and we pay more for them to attend there and get the same high quality education they were getting before vs tiny school district that doesn't offer classes that my 14 y/o has already completed 2 years ago. I don't know what the other private schools are running at, but my kids range from pre-K at $2,300 a month to HS level at $3,000 a month.

I'd rather they be in public school, I found they did better socially interacting with other groups. But literally, my 14 y/o would have had NO classes for her at the district because they don't offer high level classes. So I can have a 14 y/o who would be insanely bored, have nothing to do, drop out or get her GED and send her to college which she's not ready for, or I can pay to send her to a school that will educate her properly.

College is still more expensive than HS for her, since she'd not qualify for any scholarships if she dropped out.