I need to rant for a bit-public school rant

[rudeguy]

My son goes to a very good public school. As a matter of fact, its one of the best in Michigan. Anyways, we have been using his grandpa's address so he could attend that school, but now his grandpa is moving. There is a program call School Of Choice here that lets you pick your kid's school. We signed up for that so that my son could keep going to his school. Well, we heard back, and he the district was already full. They said they would put him on the waiting list.

I then decided to try other ways to get him accepted. I filled out some forms to try another route. I had to go to his current school to fill them out, then they were to be faxed to the district that has "rights" to him. I was supposed to hear back today on what the decision was. I didnt hear anything so I called his school. Turns out the form is still sitting on a desk. It wasnt faxed or anything.

I am getting ready to start being a pest. I have already talked with his current school, and they are willing to back me. I also talked to his doctors (he is a type 1 diabetic who is on the insulin pump,) and they are willing to go to bat too.

I guess I just want this whole thing settled. Either that, or I want someone I can call and b!tch out for a while over this. The reason I dont want him to switch schools is that his current school is already educated on the pump. If he switched schools we would have to retrain them all over again. Last time it took over 4 months before the school was able to make it a day without callling me. In that time my son's health and education both went down the crapper.

Thanks for listening.

Cliff notes:
1. kid's mom moved half way through the school year
2. kid cant go to same school next year
3. kid is sick
4. I am appealing
5. I am getting nowhere
6. I am mad
7. I need a beer after today


UPDATE:
Just called the guy in charge of admissions. The other school signed off and everything is all set!!!!!
You guys dont even understand how happy I am right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:

 

[randomlinh]

yay for public schools (or mainly bureaucracy)....

any reason why you didn't do that school of choice thing to begin with? or was it not available?

 

[AmitPatel]

In most areas, property values are linked to the quality of surrounding schools... unfortunately not all school districts and schools are of equal quality... people pay a premium to live in neighborhoods with good schools and not run into problems like you.

Not sure how Michigan schools are funded, but in Texas, they are mostly funded through property taxes and the better districts have the highest tax rates. Personally, I would consider you lucky that you (fraudulently) got your kid into the other district's schools seeing that he doesn't live there and you don't pay for it...

worse comes to worse, you can move to the good school district...

 

[TallBill]

Public schools suck.. period.

 

[Excelsior]

Originally posted by: TallBill
Public schools suck.. period.

 

[Imdmn04]

Don't matter, if the school is ghetto, your son will look good in class ranks.
If the school is good, your son will look average.

Class rank is very important to many colleges, the crappier the competition, the better you will look on your application, and the better chance you have getting into a good college.

 

[Homerboy]

Originally posted by: AmitPatel
In most areas, property values are linked to the quality of surrounding schools... unfortunately not all school districts and schools are of equal quality... people pay a premium to live in neighborhoods with good schools and not run into problems like you.

Not sure how Michigan schools are funded, but in Texas, they are mostly funded through property taxes and the better districts have the highest tax rates. Personally, I would consider you lucky that you (fraudently) got your kid into the other district's schools seeing that he doesn't live there and you don't pay for it...

worse comes to worse, you can move to the good school district...

You do speak the truth. I am one of those paying through the nose for a stellar school district (ironically probably wont end up sending my kids to public schools anyways) but as a parent I sure as hell would bend the rules no matter what to get my kid the best education I could provide for them.

GoodDad, fight your ass off to "scam" your way into the better school for your kid. It is worth it. Granted, lying and cheated doesn't teach your kid anything either, so follow the rules.

Man Im all over the place on that post...

 

[Homerboy]

Originally posted by: Imdmn04
Don't matter, if the school is ghetto, your son will look good in class ranks.
If the school is good, your son will look average.

Class rank is very important to many colleges, the crappier the competition, the better you will look on your application, and the better chance you have getting into a good college.

hardly.

so he looks good on paper, then gets a crap-ass education and bombs out of college.
Wheres the advantage?

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: AmitPatel
In most areas, property values are linked to the quality of surrounding schools... unfortunately not all school districts and schools are of equal quality... people pay a premium to live in neighborhoods with good schools and not run into problems like you.

Not sure how Michigan schools are funded, but in Texas, they are mostly funded through property taxes and the better districts have the highest tax rates. Personally, I would consider you lucky that you (fraudently) got your kid into the other district's schools seeing that he doesn't live there and you don't pay for it...

worse comes to worse, you can move to the good school district...

In my hometown, I think that all schools in the city school system shared the same amount of funding - regardless of the number of students in the school. The best school in the system (in an affluent area) had about 2500 students and received the same funding as the other schools in less affluent areas with much smaller student populations (probably less than 1000 each). I think the affluent school with the large amount of students relied on funding from the parents.

 

[Idex]

Go Private if you can afford it.

 

[tec699]

Originally posted by: TallBill
Public schools suck.. period.

Maybe it's because most public school teachers get paid squat.

LINK

The latest statistics put the average teacher's salary at about $46,000; some teachers earn a little more, some a little less (the average teacher's salary?not the starting salary?is $38,000 in Kansas, $36,000 in New Mexico, and $32,000 in South Dakota). Overall, that's about the same that we pay pile-driver operators ($45,980) and about $8,000 less than the average elevator repairman pulls down. Meanwhile, a San Francisco dockworker makes about $115,000, while the clerk who logs shipping records into the longshoreman's computer makes $136,000.

 

[TallBill]

Bullcrap, my sister makes an absolute KILLING in a low budget district as a first year middleschool health teacher.

Its called not living beyond your means and financial planning. And 32k in south dakota probably goes a ton farther then 136k in San Fransisco. Bad comparison.

 

[BadNewsBears]

Originally posted by: GoodDad
My son goes to a very good public school. As a matter of fact, its one of the best in Michigan. Anyways, we have been using his grandpa's address so he could attend that school, but now his grandpa is moving. There is a program call School Of Choice here that lets you pick your kid's school. We signed up for that so that my son could keep going to his school. Well, we heard back, and he the district was already full. They said they would put him on the waiting list.

I then decided to try other ways to get him accepted. I filled out some forms to try another route. I had to go to his current school to fill them out, then they were to be faxed to the district that has "rights" to him. I was supposed to hear back today on what the decision was. I didnt hear anything so I called his school. Turns out the form is still sitting on a desk. It wasnt faxed or anything.

I am getting ready to start being a pest. I have already talked with his current school, and they are willing to back me. I also talked to his doctors (he is a type 1 diabetic who is on the insulin pump,) and they are willing to go to bat too.

I guess I just want this whole thing settled. Either that, or I want someone I can call and b!tch out for a while over this. The reason I dont want him to switch schools is that his current school is already educated on the pump. If he switched schools we would have to retrain them all over again. Last time it took over 4 months before the school was able to make it a day without callling me. In that time my son's health and education both went down the crapper.

Thanks for listening.

Cliff notes:
1. kid cant go to same school next year
2. kid is sick
3. I am appealing
4. I am getting nowhere
5. I am mad
6. I need a beer after today

I was in a bunch of BAD pub schools in michigan. I did end up at a good one. Livonia Public schools=the best.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: TallBill
Bullcrap, my sister makes an absolute KILLING in a low budget district as a first year middleschool health teacher.

Just curious; define "killing"?:Q

 

[tec699]

Originally posted by: TallBill
Bullcrap, my sister makes an absolute KILLING in a low budget district as a first year middleschool health teacher.

Well then she is lucky. I'm expected to start off at $40,000 a year as a special education teacher when I graduate this fall. I'm lucky though as I live in NJ and in the summer I'll be working for my parents and in the near future I'll be taking over their cafe. My parents gross over $120,000 over the course of the summer season. Again I'm fortunate to have this type of opportunity. Not everyone is as lucky as me though.

Take a look at the article. It breaks my heart that great teachers who pour their soul into the teaching profession make hardly anything. They go through 4 years of college so they can max out their salary at $42,000 a year. In my opinion that's pathetic. High school dropouts make more then teachers.

 

[yukichigai]

You should be able to get your kid to stay there since he has a special medical requirement. Just keep bugging them every day to send the damn thing in.

FYI I got a variance to go to a different High School when I was younger, mostly because a majority of the teachers there didn't believe ADD existed, (which is damned inconvenient when you have it) but also because the year prior to my freshman year the highest score any of their students received on the statewide proficiency exam was a 60%. This is a test with such challenging questions as "if you are making some chili and cheese but forget to turn on the heat on the stove, what will happen: a) the cheese melts, b) the cheese doesn't melt but the chili gets hot, c) the cheese doesn't melt, the chili gets cold."

My parents didn't feel too guilty about burdening a different school district with my presence.

 

[RabidMongoose]

Originally posted by: tec699

Originally posted by: TallBill
Public schools suck.. period.

Maybe it's because most public school teachers get paid squat.

LINK

The latest statistics put the average teacher's salary at about $46,000; some teachers earn a little more, some a little less (the average teacher's salary?not the starting salary?is $38,000 in Kansas, $36,000 in New Mexico, and $32,000 in South Dakota). Overall, that's about the same that we pay pile-driver operators ($45,980) and about $8,000 less than the average elevator repairman pulls down. Meanwhile, a San Francisco dockworker makes about $115,000, while the clerk who logs shipping records into the longshoreman's computer makes $136,000.

That seems OK. $46k is fine for a teacher, IMO.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: tec699

Originally posted by: TallBill
Bullcrap, my sister makes an absolute KILLING in a low budget district as a first year middleschool health teacher.

Well then she is lucky. I'm expected to start off at $40,000 a year as a special education teacher when I graduate this fall. I'm lucky though as I live in NJ and in the summer I'll be working for my parents and in the near future I'll be taking over their cafe. My parents gross over $120,000 over the course of the summer season. Again I'm fortunate to have this type of opportunity. Not everyone is as lucky as me though.

Take a look at the article. It breaks my heart that great teachers who pour their soul into the teaching profession make hardly anything. They go through 4 years of college so they can max out their salary at $42,000 a year. In my opinion that's pathetic. High school dropouts make more then teachers.

I think starting out at $40k is pretty good for a teacher.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: ViRGE

Originally posted by: TallBill
Bullcrap, my sister makes an absolute KILLING in a low budget district as a first year middleschool health teacher.

Just curious; define "killing"?:Q

She makes roughly 45k in suburbia, Illinois. She also pulls in about 5k for teaching summer school. She also makes about 10k more for coaching sports and other minor school jobs during the year. Now shes just a first year teacher with only her BS in education. Every year her salary goes up, and with more education (paid 50/50) by the school, it goes up. Her husband is an Army recruiter with 5 years of service now and makes roughly the same. In 20 years, if they both still have their government jobs, they will be able to retire and live of both of their retirement funds at the age of 43. All their income is of public record, so no biggy in sharing. They also both make more money then any of their friends that graduated college with them, and thats not even including the whole retirement/free medical thing.

60k might not seem like a ton, but they just built a nice house, and they have 2 cars, and vacation 3-4 times a year.

 

[Yossarian]

is it legal to lie about the child's residence in order to attend a certain school?

 

[Phoenix86]

OK, I understand getting your kid into the best school, I understand wanting to get the best health care for your kid.

I don't understand why you jacked with the system to get you kid in that school by giving your grandfathers address as your kids. This is the source of your problem, not the school. Had you either A. moved to the correct district so your child fell into that district, or B. got them transferred properly, this wouldn't be happening.

If it means that much, move into that district, they can't refuse your child then. Otherwise you HAVE to give the children in that district + the people transferring that are ahead of you priority. If the slots are out, tough. That's the whole point of districts.

All that being said, I feel for you because of the diabetic situation. Normally I wouldn't feel for you, but that's a bit cold here. 4 months to educate them?!? WTF? Can you make a plea to the district superintendent? Setup a meeting or something?

 

[Phoenix86]

Originally posted by: AmitPatel
In most areas, property values are linked to the quality of surrounding schools... unfortunately not all school districts and schools are of equal quality... people pay a premium to live in neighborhoods with good schools and not run into problems like you.

Not sure how Michigan schools are funded, but in Texas, they are mostly funded through property taxes and the better districts have the highest tax rates. Personally, I would consider you lucky that you (fraudulently) got your kid into the other district's schools seeing that he doesn't live there and you don't pay for it...

worse comes to worse, you can move to the good school district...

Acutally, that's not quite true in Texas. Look up the robin hood plan, it's still in effect. They just has a special session of the legislature, but didnt' produce a new system.

 

[allisolm]

Let me get this straight - you lied to the school district so that your child could attend a school outside his own district that other children had to either live in the actual district or follow the School of Choice procedures to attend.

Now you can no longer lie and have found out that people who actually live in the area or have followed the rules are hogging all the slots.

Then you want the schools to abandon their rules because your child has a physical problem. After all, there must not be any other children in the area with problems that must be accomodated besides yours so why should you be inconvenienced?

I'm sorry for your child. Sorry that he has to go through this. Sorry that doing it your way is coming back to bite him on the ass rather than you.

"I want someone I can call and b!tch out for a while over this." I think you need to start with your own number.

 

[Lonyo]

Why TF is he having to move from his current school?
Seems the US system is retarded.
If a kid is in a school, he should be in that school until he moves on to the next school (graduates or whatever), unless he moves to a different area to far to get to that school and the parents choose to enroll him/her in a new school.

 

[AmitPatel]

Originally posted by: Phoenix86

Acutally, that's not quite true in Texas. Look up the robin hood plan, it's still in effect. They just has a special session of the legislature, but didnt' produce a new system.

Yeah, I know about that, but the Robin Hood (current) plan still didnt equalize the schools cause all the rich districts were hitting their property tax caps trying to make up for the money they sent to the poor districts. I'm pretty sure Texas school funding is one of the most fvcked up in the country...