School districts punishing parents for taking kids out for Disney!

[mrsltg]

Very well said Leighe. I would be anxious to see how many of the public school parents that have posted on this thread have actually been to a school board meeting.
Several posters mentioned snow days-this is for the safety of all students in your district, whether they ride a bus, walk, or a transported by parents. I live within walking distance of my daughter's school and we could have gotten her to school every day thus far. However, in other areas of our district children are subject to longer commutes and unsafe road conditions. Some of you that have posted sound like the school districts are punishing you by keeping your kids out of school on days they deem unsafe.

Sorry, but baloney! They are playing "CYA". My school district was closed yesterday for less than 1" of snow - yes I said ONE INCH - not foot. There was not a single safety issue at play and if there was, then why aren't schools closed on rainy days? Roads are just as slick. And if in some areas the commute is worse than others than those parents should have the CHOICE to keep their kids home - school should not close county wide because it might be icy on one street in one neighborhood.

And Leigh, you're right, school is not childcare. My point is, don't dare tell a parent they need to pay because they decided something was more important than school and then turn around and have off every other week because of teacher workday/holiday party/parent conference/etc etc etc. Not to mention, parents do have to scramble when school is closed on what is a normal school day.

All of this makes for reason #759 why my kids go to private school. It's not about money because they get the same whether my kids are present or not. The genuine interest is in educating the kids, not getting paid for days missed.

 

[Sunny37]

Very well said Leighe. I would be anxious to see how many of the public school parents that have posted on this thread have actually been to a school board meeting. Several posters mentioned snow days-this is for the safety of all students in your district, whether they ride a bus, walk, or a transported by parents. I live within walking distance of my daughter's school and we could have gotten her to school every day thus far. However, in other areas of our district children are subject to longer commutes and unsafe road conditions. Some of you that have posted sound like the school districts are punishing you by keeping your kids out of school on days they deem unsafe.

Good point....how many of these parents who complain about the schools being closed due to weather conditions would like to take on the responsibility for hundreds of students' safety? Imagine that school NOT being closed due to the ONE INCH of snow and a bus wrecking and killing or injuring children! Just imagine that! Tough job, IMO!

 

[seashoreCM]

Hate to rain on your parade but I think families should not pull kids from school to suit their own vacation schedules.

(copied from another post) How many parents who did pull their kids from school made all of the arrangements and preplanned the lessons and essentially home schooled their kids so the teachers had to do zilch other than rubber stamping what the parents proposed and reviewing the results afterwards?

OT:

I'm sorry. As a teacher ... schools are way top heavy when it comes to administrative costs:

I was thinking that school budgets could be significantly reduced if many teachers turned administrators went back into the classrooms for a few more years each. And parents allowed to come in and play "instant educator" or "instant engineer" and nitpick over the school budget striking out tiny things here and there such as keep the old CRT monitors instead of buying flat screens.

OT:
How many Japanese parents pull their kids out of school to go to Disneysea? Will the answer surprise me?
(Inspired of a news report some years ago about some Japanese students who after after years and years of nothing but school work went on a rampage after graduating from high school. As well as periodic news comments about U.S. students versus students in other countries.)

Disney hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[leighe]

Good point....how many of these parents who complain about the schools being closed due to weather conditions would like to take on the responsibility for hundreds of students' safety? Imagine that school NOT being closed due to the ONE INCH of snow and a bus wrecking and killing or injuring children! Just imagine that! Tough job, IMO!

Exactly! I also have a feeling that if the above scenario did take place many of the same posters saying, "It's just ridiculous to cancel school for this or that?" would be the first to say, "How could they not cancel school for this or that? That just proves its all about the money and not the kids."

Granted I live in a surburban/rural county but one inch of snow is definitely enough around here to make the roads unsafe, especially for a bus full of children.

 

[mrsltg]

Good point....how many of these parents who complain about the schools being closed due to weather conditions would like to take on the responsibility for hundreds of students' safety? Imagine that school NOT being closed due to the ONE INCH of snow and a bus wrecking and killing or injuring children! Just imagine that! Tough job, IMO!

So, do school bus crashes only happen when it snows? Using that logic, why not close the schools when it rains or it's very windy? After all, a school bus is a high profile vehicle and is prone to having issues in the wind. Accidents can and do happen at anytime. Perhaps the answer is not providing school transportation?

 

[robsmom]

Imagine that school NOT being closed due to the ONE INCH of snow and a bus wrecking and killing or injuring children! Just imagine that! Tough job, IMO!

I agree with this and that school is not a child care service. I work full time, so i certainly understand that parents need to juggle care issues when school is closed for snow, in-service etc. Except for weather, the school gives you these dates well in advance on an annual basis so you can make necessary arrangements. I personally do not want the school district to take risks with any child's safety just to accomodate my work schedule or other working parents. I was annoyed on Valentines that we were the one school in our area that was open during the ice storm. yes, my work was open and yest i would have had to find care for him, but as i was slipping and sliding on the ice i kept worrying about his bus!!

 

[Sunny37]

So, do school bus crashes only happen when it snows? Using that logic, why not close the schools when it rains or it's very windy? After all, a school bus is a high profile vehicle and is prone to having issues in the wind. Accidents can and do happen at anytime. Perhaps the answer is not providing school transportation?

My point was: who wants to be responsible for making the decision? I don't think taking away the transportation is a viable option.

 

[Georgia]

WTG Leighe--

First, let me say...charging parents is ridiculous but it was more about making people aware that funding is important. Schools are responsible for educating children based on a state attendance model. If the students have unexcused absences, the school is still required to educate them without the funding.

Second, the idea that ANYONE in the public school is all about money is a complete misconception. As a teacher, I'm not tucking that $36 dollars in my offshore bank account in order to fund my early retirement.

Third, the school does not owe you money for closing for whatever reason. We are not your babysitter. It is an extremely difficult decision to close schools. A friend of my family was transportation director for my hometown, he made the call on snow days. He hated that part of the job. His number one concern, beside safety, was that if school was called off some students wouldn't get to eat that day. Live with that reality!

Ultimately, school is the number one priority when it is in session. Family time doesn't just happen at DWD.

 

[the Fidge]

If you are going to discuss transportation I have no choice but to say a word to that. I am a van driver for wheelchair bound children. PLease think of this when you think we should be driving in the snow. Maybe your road is clear but what about all the other roads. WE lost a driver a Mom of 2 young children no sutdents survived and she did not.

She was on one the roads that are not travled much but we get no say in that matter. Just remember 4wd vehicles take the same amount of time to stop as non 4wd! That is a fact! SO when you see someone come flying at you since they think 4wd makes them "safe" think again.

BTW my run is 215 miles daily and no the idea of driving them all in snow does not thrill me one bit!!! Not for my skills but others lack of knowledge!

MY van has encountered many of these dangers and all I can say is, I wonder if their child was in here if they would be trying to run me off the road still for not going FAST ENOUGH in SNOW!!

Safety of children is first and foremost!!! What that has to do with the threads topic I am not sure??

 

[dwelty]

This really pisses me off. I have been a CA resident all my life, I have seen the CA public schools get worse and worse, and the state just throws more money at the problem every year.
It is NOT a money issue, and I have proof, Arizona spends almost half per student than California does, and yet their test scores are higher!

Arizona faces the same issues as California including: a quickly growing population as people move to the sun belt, and an exploding illegal immigrant population. They are doing it better, with less!

My son spent a week in history class on a "Mock Trial" of Truman for dropping the Atomic Bombs on Japan, (Part of the CA state curriculum) I am sick of the Ultra fringe left being in charge of the education system in this state!

P.S. Please pardon my spelling, I am a product of the CA state school system.

 

[rhiannonwales]

To the poster that mentioned that they pay fees for books and such in their district:
That is an anomaly in the midwest as far as i know.I have friends who live in Ohio and they have the same policy.Most of the country does not have to pay for these things.

And another point - those of you who are saying that schools are always struggling for cash -
Tell me why is it that 70% of my VERY high (over 6000 a year) taxes goes to schools and yet they are always crying poverty?? Could it be because of the salaries (over 50,000 a year for the average teacher with only a bachelor degree) wasteful spending (the office of my sons elementary just got a flat panel TV to entertain people waiting for the principal) and teachers who pull 2 salaries?There is one at my sons school who collects a check for being on the child study team AND for being the truancy officer.

Yet for all that wasteful spending we still have larger than state average class sizes, days where the school closes in spring/summer (school gets out mid June) because its over 100 degrees and the school has no air conditioning (Well except the office, isnt that nice?).
I've decided that next year my son will either go to private school or be homeschooled.

 

[ameraumi]

I posted earlier saying that charging parents is silly. I stand by that especially after I just found out our school system is paying over $100,000 for our school board members to have health insurance! These people have full time jobs and we are now paying for their insurance! There is no reason for that.

 

[kribit]

(the office of my sons elementary just got a flat panel TV to entertain people waiting for the principal)

That's just shameful. I don't have a flat panel tv because it's too expensive. I remember when I was in school we had one tv that had to be rolled around on a cart and signed out. Someone donated it and I remember it being a big deal because it was BRAND NEW. We always got used ones. There is such a sense of entitlement in our country today, that it makes my skin crawl.

I agree though, I think more of the US poplulation are hopping on the "Homeschool bus" or finding private schools to educate their children. DH and I looked at 3 private schools in our area and the waiting list for 2 of them is a mile long and we live in the top school district for our area. That should say something about our public schools.

 

[Sunny37]

I agree though, I think more of the US poplulation are hopping on the "Homeschool bus" or finding private schools to educate their children. DH and I looked at 3 private schools in our area and the waiting list for 2 of them is a mile long and we live in the top school district for our area. That should say something about our public schools.

Oh, I don't know--there are people willing to lie about their residency to try to get their kids in the ps my children attend. They aren't ALL that bad.

 

[declansdad]

So, do school bus crashes only happen when it snows? Using that logic, why not close the schools when it rains or it's very windy? After all, a school bus is a high profile vehicle and is prone to having issues in the wind. Accidents can and do happen at anytime. Perhaps the answer is not providing school transportation?

The probability of accidents is higher when it is snowing. Driving in the rain is not the same. Winter driving means that you need to account for slippery roads, visibility issues, and freezing issues. It is much more dangerous than driving in the rain.

 

[kribit]

Sunny, well they are certainly not ALL bad. Perhaps I generalized a bit, but they aren't as good as they were and the test scores over the years prove it. Like I said, I can't complain about the school district where I live because it ranks in the top 5 in the state I live in. We were looking at private schools for a myriad of other reasons, but I'm not going off on a tangent.

 

[declansdad]

The whole test score things burns my butt. Test scores are not always true indicators of progress, especially if you teach to the test.

 

[carone0318]

My only beef with the school closings for weather (snow) related issues is that I would like to see the schools close when it is actually snowing. Too many times do I see on the 11 o'clock news the ticker going across the bottom of the page with 2 hour delays and closing and there hasn't been 1 flake of snow to hit the ground, but it is forecasted for the next day.

Actual snow is far different than anticipated snow.

In our kids parochial school we do not pay for missed days, but we do pay for everything else under the sun...of course by choice.

If I ever received a bill I would have to keep it for sh*ts and giggles....

 

[kribit]

especially if you teach to the test

No disrespect and I can see where you would get a little preturbed at my statement. I have a very good friend who works in a very "low scoring" school district and she has the same complaint. In all fairness, I totally sympathize with her, and I truly believe the test scores are not a direct result of her teaching ability. As a matter of fact, she's a wonderful teacher who cares very much about her students and their future success. However, 50% of her incoming 4th grade class could not speak english. Whose fault is this? Is it my friend's responsiblity to teach 30 kids the english language all day long? She spends more time with language barrier issues than teaching. That's truly unfair to her and the other children who are there to learn history and math. side note - I do realize I'm opening a huge can of worms with this.

Why aren't the parents making a conscious effort to ensure their kids go to school with at least a general knowledge of the english language? If I were to move overseas to a foreign speaking country, you better believe I would be teaching my kids the language before sending them to school. It's common sense.

Now, please do not take this post as an insult to people who are immigrants, as my family immigrated to America. But, you bet your bottom dollar that they taught themselves the language and knew it well. Bottom line - We need to stop band-aiding the problems in this country and get to the root before it's too late.

 

[declansdad]

No disrespect and I can see where you would get a little preturbed at my statement. I have a very good friend who works in a very "low scoring" school district and she has the same complaint. In all fairness, I totally sympathize with her, and I truly believe the test scores are not a direct result of her teaching ability. As a matter of fact, she's a wonderful teacher who cares very much about her students and their future success. However, 50% of her incoming 4th grade class could not speak english. Whose fault is this? Is it my friend's responsiblity to teach 30 kids the english language all day long? She spends more time with language barrier issues than teaching. That's truly unfair to her and the other children who are there to learn history and math. side note - I do realize I'm opening a huge can of worms with this.

Why aren't the parents making a conscious effort to ensure their kids go to school with at least a general knowledge of the english language? If I were to move overseas to a foreign speaking country, you better believe I would be teaching my kids the language before sending them to school. It's common sense.

Now, please do not take this post as an insult to people who are immigrants, as my family immigrated to America. But, you bet your bottom dollar that they taught themselves the language and knew it well. Bottom line - We need to stop band-aiding the problems in this country and get to the root before it's too late.

no worries and I agree with what you just posted.