Tuesday, August 19, 2008

I think "Sacrifice" is the wrong word

I dashed off that last post in a hurry. I think "sacrifice" for the greater good is the wrong word because I don't think sending your kid to a public school sacrifices anything. I think that work for the greater good is a better way to phrase it.
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2 comments:

Kate said...

You know that I am a proponent of public education as an educator and hopefully as a future parent. My question remains--what is a parent to do when the local school is unsafe? Not "unacceptable" in terms of scores, but unsafe. We paid a lot for our house and part of it is because of the schools we're zoned to. Our elementary and high school are highly rated, both by NCLB and local standards. Our middle school is a nightmare. Nightmare. Unsafe. Will I send my 11 year old there to sit in a class with a 15 year old? Where the teachers are told to teach 3 grade levels below to reach the low-achievers? Our hope is that things will change in the next 10+ years, of course. We do possibly have another option, which is a magnet school. Ryan went to one in high school and it made an enormous difference in his life. He credits it with shaping him in very different ways than his siblings.

I wish I knew what the answer was, but bashing parents for wanting to give their kids the best that they can isn't the answer. Sometimes sending your kid to the local public school is sacrificing your kid.

3:44 PM
Julie said...

I am not talking about schools where it is unsafe. As I said in the comments on Tim's post, I think if a child is in a safe environment, they can learn. I think most upper-middle class liberal parents are sending their kids to private schools not to avoid unsafe schools but to avoid public schools and the minority, non-upper middle class students that attend them.

5:18 PM

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