I am a public school teacher and a mom and a Disney nut. I generally don't respond to posts that I think have wandered far from the subject and that have included personal grudge matches, but some things have been said here that I wish to respond to.
First of all, I believe strongly in the need for public education in America. Democracy requires an educated populace. I choose not to homeschool my child though I am extremely qualified to do so. (I am a Nationally Board Certified teacher with more than 15 years in my field, the field I chose because of my love for children and my love for language.) I have many friends who have chosen to homeschool. I respect their opinions and their choices. I do not deride their abilities or their children's educations.
Far too often, however, I find that the first thing homeschooling parents feel the need to do is deride MY choice (not to mention, my profession). Some of the statements I have heard (about the profession that I have dedicated my life to)? "Public school teachers could care less what happens to their students." "They don't have the foggiest idea of how to teach." "Most teachers in the public schools are just there for the money and the vacations." (That's my personal favorite.)
As I have read through this thread, I have found similar comments, and I have been disturbed. My personal least favorite quote was from the person who questioned a teacher's right to make a decision because, I believe the quote was something like, "Who does she think is paying her salary?" When a doctor makes a recommendation about a patient (who IS, indeed, paying for the services provided), few patients would exclaim, "Who does she think is paying her salary?" and then ignore the doctor. Teachers, principals, and counselors are, for the most part, meticulously trained and spend long days (and sometimes late nights) making painful and difficult decisions. Their decisions should no more be dictated by "the people who are paying their salaries" than a doctor's should be.
The other point that I wished to discuss was the question of whether to take a child out for a trip (to Disney or to anywhere else, for that matter). I don't think that as a teacher I would have any problem with a kindergartener (or first or second grader) taking a week off to go on a family trip -- of any kind. I do not personally take my 2nd grader out of school for trips, but then again, since I am a teacher, I don't go on many trips during the school year. However, I am not sure that I would take a child who is much older than that out for more than a few days. So much goes on in the typical school day. I teach ninth grade English. Last week, we read the entire play, The Miracle Worker, wrote a composition (drafted and redrafted numerous times), discussed the usage of strong verbs and learned how to correct verb tense errors in our own writing. Since we are on a block schedule, my students spent a total of 8 hours in my classroom. I did have one student who was out most of the week with an illness. Her make-up file is quite thick, and she will need to spend a great deal of after school time with just me in order to complete it. (I cannot "send home" the extensive one-on-one time that I spend with my students. I cannot "send home" tests and quizzes. There is much that can be made up at home, but there is still a good deal of material that I must be with my students in order to present.) Then, she will also have to spend time with her other teachers.
Yes, I believe a trip to Disney (or a trip to almost anywhere else in the world) is educational. My son had us take his picture in front of every country in "the World" while we were at Epcot last month. He is now organizing those pictures into a wonderful report that he is doing for his class. (We went during the winter break.) I believe that almost any trip that a child could take would be educational in some way, but I also believe that it is important to consider the individual child. Will the trip be worth the "after trip" experience? (At our school, we have a Saturday school program for students who travel with their parents. Many students beg their parents not to plan trips during the school year so that they will not have to do make up work at Saturday school.) How old is the child? How much material will be covered in the classroom while you are away? And, what is the school's policy?
Sorry for rambling on. This thread struck a nerve, I guess.
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But the OPer spoke about a 4th Grade child & a Kindergartner . The OPer was challenging the decision from the Principal that her child could not earn any higher grade than a 70, because the Principal considered the absence unexcused (meaning the vacation is NOT VALID for absence), and the OPer thought that was unfair. The OPer THEN went on to say:
