[bejazd]

I'm all for parent involvement and attempting to fix the problems: in my ideal world we'd have great community based schools in all communities...but the reality of it is that some communities either can't or won't support their local schools (for example, making sure your child goes to school fed, bathed, ready to learn and willing to participate in the learning process.) The other very troubling issue I've encountered as my children have gone from kindergarten to HS is that school administrations and teachers say they want parent involvement, yet what they really want is parents to act as booster clubs raising money to pay for the things we parents want the state legislature to budget and pay for: music, arts, science, vocational training etc.

There have been so many times I've been so incredibly frustrated by the bureaucracy of all it. In my community, one HS has gone charter as an attempt by the community to reclaim the school from the lameness of the school district and teacher's union and their constant squabbling. It's almost as if everyone forgot about the students. That's why I'm for school choice- it's the parents last best hope of actually holding educators responsible for getting the job done.

Of course the news here is full of stories of all the teachers that just got warning notices that they could be laid off next fall due to the state's budget crisis. One teacher was on the lamenting that she just couldn't work with this "black cloud" hanging over her, and "all they care about is test scores!" HELLOOO! Yes, everyday, people go to work not knowing if they'll have a job tomorrow, and yes, their employers do care about their performance every day that they are actually getting paid to show up at work. Welcome to the real world.