Snacks Crossing Elementary seriously drops the ball

[Brandon]

do we know why she was late? what if a kid was sick and she was attending to the needs of a sick child because the office staff was on the phones or making sure someone wasnt entering the building that wasnt supposed to?

i am willing to bet this teacher had a little something to offer that other teachers looking for a job didnt have. i mean right now the school needs a teacher, theres a 100 teachers looking for that one job.

 

[hornadylnl]

Who can take better care of your child than you? The school? If you can't trust them to transport her properly, you can always do it yourself. I guess we taxpayers could always fund personal chauffeurs for each and every student. My wife stayed home for our daughter. It's a choice you have to make.

I'm not downplaying the potential hazard in that your daughter was left alone at your house. Is your bus driver supposed to keep a book on every child as to what hours their parents work on which day, if they are going to mommys on Monday, grammys on tuesday and thursday, yada, yada, yada.

If you believe this logistical cluster foxtrot is 1000% the responsibility of your school corporation, no wonder why schools can't afford to teach. They're too busy funding and running a daycare.

 

[dburkhead]

Who can take better care of your child than you? The school? If you can't trust them to transport her properly, you can always do it yourself. I guess we taxpayers could always fund personal chauffeurs for each and every student. My wife stayed home for our daughter. It's a choice you have to make.

I'm not downplaying the potential hazard in that your daughter was left alone at your house. Is your bus driver supposed to keep a book on every child as to what hours their parents work on which day, if they are going to mommys on Monday, grammys on tuesday and thursday, yada, yada, yada.

If you believe this logistical cluster foxtrot is 1000% the responsibility of your school corporation, no wonder why schools can't afford to teach. They're too busy funding and running a daycare.

Fine. Give me back my tax money and I'll be able to afford to quit the public school system and put my daughter into a private school, or to have my wife stay home and homeschool.

Or maybe I should just quit my job so that I can be home every day to take care of my daughter. Well, there's the small problem of then I won't be able to afford a home to take care of her in or a car to pick her up in or well, pretty much anything else.

We both agree that the game should be different, but it's one thing to say the game should be Texas hold 'em and quite another to try to play by the rules of Texas hold 'em when the game on the table is five card draw.

The problem with both ends (or all four edges of a two-axis system) of the political spectrum is that they confuse their idealized perfect worlds with reality.

As for "running a daycare," no, I don't expect the school to do that. That's what I hired a daycare for. It is the school's responsibility to follow their own written policies, to make sure the child gets where the child is supposed to go whether that's on a school bus, in the appropriate location to be picked up by parents, or in the appropriate location to be picked up by daycare. The school failed to follow its own policies, put my daughter on a bus she was not supposed to be on, and then the bus driver released her alone with no adults present--which is not supposed to be done per their own rules.

And parents are not allowed to drop off children before 7:55 AM--per school policy. If I pick her up it has to be at 3:00 PM, when school lets out. Given that there's a half hour drive each way to and from work, that means that means I'd only have six hours for work. I'm sure my boss would be just thrilled with that. My wife works in Lafayette. That's an hour each way commute leaving her only five hours for work if she were the one to do it. I'm sure her boss would be equally thrilled.

But I'm sure that unemployment and homelessness would be a _much_ better solution for taking care of my daughter than making use of the schools which my tax dollars are already paying for and will continue to pay for regardless of whether I use it or not.

 

[IndyBeerman]

This pretty much sums it up. The school made a mistake, but unfortunately it's simple one to make. If only one kid gets "lost in the shuffle" of managing countless numbers of children, then it's a pretty good day. It is unfortunate, but the logistics of getting every kid situated and to the right place is a nightmare...and to get it all right on the first day probably isn't going to happen.

Glad your kid is OK and your neighbor saw her.

You know what, I hate to play devils advocate here and .

What if that ONE kid that get's lost in the shuffle ends up kidnapped by a pedophile and ends up dead........

is YOUR CHILD?



I guess it won't matter then will it, since it's....... ONLY one child.

My opinion there ls no room for error here when it involves a child, plain and simple.

 

[hornadylnl]

Yes, we both know that public schools are screwed. Instead of us all working to fix the disease, we write letters to newspapers and tv stations composing about the symptoms.

I had to give up a lot so Mysore could stay home with my daughter. It's a choice I had to make. Are you saying you couldn't give up anything to be able to afford for you or your wife to stay home?

Would you drop your kids off at any local government agency for the day and entrust them in their care? I would hope not. School employees are government bureaucrats just the same as those who work in the assessor's, recorder's, ..., office.

I can't drop my daughter off to the care of a local crack house and absolve myself of all responsibity should something happen to her. I sure as he'll hope that our schools are safer places for our children than crack houses but are they?

I'm sure every parent has put their children in more danger by age 6 than your daughter was the other day.

As for the bus driver being required to see an adult present before leaving a child, how long should a bus route take? My neighbor kids make the driver wait every morning as they are never ready when she gets there. If parents can't get their kids out the door on time, how long do you think it will take them to get off their fat arses to meet the bus?

Whether we as parents like it or not, we are ultimately responsible for what happens to our children. Regardless of who's care they are in.

 

[Suprtek]

Fine. Give me back my tax money and I'll be able to afford to quit the public school system and put my daughter into a private school, or to have my wife stay home and homeschool.

Or maybe I should just quit my job so that I can be home every day to take care of my daughter. Well, there's the small problem of then I won't be able to afford a home to take care of her in or a car to pick her up in or well, pretty much anything else.

We both agree that the game should be different, but it's one thing to say the game should be Texas hold 'em and quite another to try to play by the rules of Texas hold 'em when the game on the table is five card draw.

The problem with both ends (or all four edges of a two-axis system) of the political spectrum is that they confuse their idealized perfect worlds with reality.

Before I even start, let me say that I am in no way condemning you or flaming you, just stating an opinion. I completely understand your frustration with having to pay taxes for schools that you can't get back if you choose not to use them. This is a completely valid concern. And you're right, our world will never be perfect. However, that doesn't mean you have no options. It's not easy, but it is possible to send your children to private school even on a single modest income. When my children started school (the first was about 12 years ago), I made less than 30K per year. My wife and I decided that we wanted to be a "traditional" family with me working to support us and her working to run the home. We made many sacrifices. We still pay taxes to support public schools, But we have never used them and never will. We are still sacrificing to this day and will have to continue for quite some time as our oldest is now starting college. There are many quality private schools out there that you won't find in the yellow pages and you might be surprised to find that it costs less than you think in many cases. For example, many local churches have a school as part of their ministry. My daughter ended up doing so well with her grades and SAT scores that she was able to get an academic scholarship for college that covers half her tuition. Again, please don't take this the wrong way. My hope is to offer encouragement with the knowledge that what you may think is impossible may actually be within reach. Good luck!

 

[dburkhead]

Yes, we both know that public schools are screwed. Instead of us all working to fix the disease, we write letters to newspapers and tv stations composing about the symptoms.

I suppose I could always go wit the "failed state" approach since that has historically and globally worked so well.

I had to give up a lot so Mysore could stay home with my daughter. It's a choice I had to make. Are you saying you couldn't give up anything to be able to afford for you or your wife to stay home?

Oh, I know. I can give up health coverage and go with the "hope she doesn't get sick" plan. Or maybe I can give up paying bills and go with the "bankruptcy isn't so bad" plan.

Would you drop your kids off at any local government agency for the day and entrust them in their care? I would hope not. School employees are government bureaucrats just the same as those who work in the assessor's, recorder's, ..., office.

Let me guess, no never set foot in a library because it's a government institution and that somehow "taints" the books within it. Whereas I, on the other hand, spend quite a bit of time in libraries because I'm paying for it whether I use it or not.

In any case, I wouldn't drop off a stray dog at the sewage treatment plant and expect it to be taken care of, nor would I expect a problem with my local sewer to be taken care of by Animal Control. I wouldn't expect the police to put out a fire or the fire department to arrest a burglar.

While it may be too much to expect, I do not think it is too much to demand that the people in government position, high or low, local, state or federal, do their jobs to a minimum standard of competence, and to call them on it when they fail to do so.

Yes, I know, you don't think there is any solution to the mess and you may be right, but washing ones hands of it and actively encouraging the final breakdown is only a recipe for making things worse.

I can't drop my daughter off to the care of a local crack house and absolve myself of all responsibity should something happen to her. I sure as he'll hope that our schools are safer places for our children than crack houses but are they?

Ah, and now we have the old "exaggerate to the point of foolishness" approach--on top of the "blame the victim" that you've been engaging in from the beginning.

I'm sure every parent has put their children in more danger by age 6 than your daughter was the other day.

Right. After all, we know that leaving a six year old wandering the streets with no adult anywhere in sight is purely routine.

As for the bus driver being required to see an adult present before leaving a child, how long should a bus route take?

You're overgeneralizing again. The policy is for kindergarten and first grade, not children in general. There are only 4 first grade classes in Snacks Crossing. My daughter's had about 15-20 students. Presuming others are the same that makes a maximum of 80 first grade students in the school. Given the realities of city life these days many, if not most, of those first graders will be going to day care not riding home on the school bus.

When my daughter was picked up, about 10 minutes before the "arrive at school" time (which puts her at the end, rather than the beginning, of the run) there were maybe half a dozen kids in the bus. (While routing and number of buses run is more a factor of geography and time than anything else, they probably would be better served with smaller buses, but that's a different issue).

Put those together and we're not talking about "thousands" or even "hundreds" of kids. We're talking about two or three per bus and a rather small handful in the dozens for the school.

This is not something that it is unreasonable to expect people to handle.

My neighbor kids make the driver wait every morning as they are never ready when she gets there. If parents can't get their kids out the door on time, how long do you think it will take them to get off their fat arses to meet the bus?

Immaterial. The policy remains the policy. The school set the policy. Also, as pointed out, the policy is only effective for a handful of kids per bus. And how many times do you think your neighbors would repeat not being there for the bus (assuming they had a child of the affected age in school) if the bus driver did not release the child but instead took the child back to school and the school then called CPS about underage "latch key" kids and their next conversation was with the "nice" young man or lady from CPS who automatically assumes they are guilty and the best result they can hope for is a determination of "not proven."

That was actually one of my fears--that they might claim that I had never given them the instruction regarding Athena and that it was my "fault" that she was delivered to an empty house. All it would take is "losing" a couple of pieces of paper and there's no evidence that I did my part at all.

Fortunately, they were more concerned about Athena than about casting, or avoiding, blame. A lesson there that some could do to take to heart.

Whether we as parents like it or not, we are ultimately responsible for what happens to our children. Regardless of who's care they are in.

There's a term for that approach. It's called "helicopter parenting." Look it up.

In the end, there are no perfect solutions. You make the best choices you can given the situations you face and the information available to you at the time. It's the easiest thing in the world to say "if you had" but, really, who can know? Suppose I had put her in a private school. Bad things have been known to happen in private schools too. Or maybe my wife could quit her job and homeschool. But then, we would lose the health care benefits that come from my wife's job--and since I work for a small company we don't have a group plan--and that means my daughter will probably continue to have frequent and very messy nosebleeds because any insurance I could then afford to get won't cover the pre-existing condition that, in the likely event it doesn't clear up by itself, will require corrective surgery. Or maybe I can find a different job, one with more benefits and a higher salary (maybe, difficult in this economy but I'll grant it's not impossible), and if that means I have to work longer hours with less time with my daughter, well, that's the trade off isn't it? Or I suppose I could quit my job entirely and maybe try to go back to full time writing. Unfortunately, the uncertainties and definitely the lead time in writing for professional publication mean that it would be literally years (minimum two, likely 3-5) before I saw any significant income from that. In the meantime there are bills to be paid, a mortgage, utilities, etc. There's food to be bought, clothes to provide, and the other expenses of everyday life. Being forced into bankruptcy would be such a good experience for a child.

Maybe things would have been better if I made different choices and maybe not. You can't really know in many, if not most, cases. But even if they unequivocally would have been better overall, well, maybe if that woman hadn't been wearing that short skirt she wouldn't have been raped. And maybe if this guy hadn't taken that short cut back to his car he wouldn't have gotten mugged. But that doesn't absolve the rapist or the mugger. And even if I could have made things better by making a different choice that still would not absolve the people who failed to follow my instructions, neglected to pass that information on to my daughter's teacher, and put my daughter on a school bus she should never have been on in the first place.

And maybe if I can get some light shed on the issue, by, say, getting a news report or even a letter to the editor printed, then maybe the school will be more careful in the future (if only to avoid potential lawsuits) and maybe not have this happen again, not just for my child but for the other children caught up in the same system.

 

[JetGirl]

My wife stayed home for our daughter. It's a choice you have to make.

This ^.
What really burns me about making that sacrifice was all the people saying "It must be nice be nice to be able to..."
Um, no. It was HARD. It was a struggle. It was doing without.
But it was also knowing where my kid was 24/7 and having her raised with our ethics/ideas/etc. instead of God knows who.
Personal choice is exactly right, Hornadylnl. I'd rep you if I could again so soon.

 

[dburkhead]

Before I even start, let me say that I am in no way condemning you or flaming you, just stating an opinion. I completely understand your frustration with having to pay taxes for schools that you can't get back if you choose not to use them. This is a completely valid concern. And you're right, our world will never be perfect. However, that doesn't mean you have no options. It's not easy, but it is possible to send your children to private school even on a single modest income. When my children started school (the first was about 12 years ago), I made less than 30K per year. My wife and I decided that we wanted to be a "traditional" family with me working to support us and her working to run the home. We made many sacrifices. We still pay taxes to support public schools, But we have never used them and never will. We are still sacrificing to this day and will have to continue for quite some time as our oldest is now starting college. There are many quality private schools out there that you won't find in the yellow pages and you might be surprised to find that it costs less than you think in many cases. For example, many local churches have a school as part of their ministry. My daughter ended up doing so well with her grades and SAT scores that she was able to get an academic scholarship for college that covers half her tuition. Again, please don't take this the wrong way. My hope is to offer encouragement with the knowledge that what you may think is impossible may actually be within reach. Good luck!

Oh sure, there are religious schools that will offer lower tuition rates for members of their congregation. All I would have to do is cynically pretend to believe in their flavor of imaginary friend.

And what kind of example would that be to set for my daughter.

I am not going to join a church in which I don't believe simply to get my daughter into their school. It would be dishonest and would be teaching her dishonesty. I have looked into some other private schools and some of them do have scholarship type programs but none of them had any for which we were qualified. Maybe in a couple of years when Athena has a record of academic excellence (of which I have no doubt--she's starting first grade with close to what most kids finish in terms of reading and mathematical ability), but for now that's the hand I have.

 

[IndyMonkey]

Oh sure, there are religious schools that will offer lower tuition rates for members of their congregation. All I would have to do is cynically pretend to believe in their flavor of imaginary friend.

And what kind of example would that be to set for my daughter.

I am not going to join a church in which I don't believe simply to get my daughter into their school. It would be dishonest and would be teaching her dishonesty. I have looked into some other private schools and some of them do have scholarship type programs but none of them had any for which we were qualified. Maybe in a couple of years when Athena has a record of academic excellence (of which I have no doubt--she's starting first grade with close to what most kids finish in terms of reading and mathematical ability), but for now that's the hand I have.

I sent my son to St. Christopher's in Speedway last year and I was never forced to pretend that I was a Christian. Its a good school that runs 250.00 a month I believe. It may of been more, I cant remember.

 

[hornadylnl]

You know what, I hate to play devils advocate here and .

What if that ONE kid that get's lost in the shuffle ends up kidnapped by a pedophile and ends up dead........

is YOUR CHILD?



I guess it won't matter then will it, since it's....... ONLY one child.

My opinion there ls no room for error here when it involves a child, plain and simple.

Who better to commit zero errors than the government.

 

[96firephoenix]

WOW. I can't believe that, other than that you would not have any reason to lie.

 

[hornadylnl]

Write to whoever you want. It won't do any good.

Find 10-20 parents of your school and tell them your story. Convince them that your school poses a danger to your children and enroll them in a different school. Then all of you write to every administrator of your old school and tell them they will be losing $5-10k in funding for each student leaving. Then explain to them why.

Is somebody going to be fired because this incident? Highly unlikely. The prospect of an administrator having to deal with a budget $50k smaller than expected is guaranteed to get his attention. But there's one small problem with that. If you put your child in another school, you will most likely lose her free transportation.

The system is designed to limit accountability. Who is going to get so pissed at a local school that they will give up free transportation or tuition bychoosing a different school? That goes for underperforming schools, schools who leave children at home with no parents, etc.

If I picked my daughter up from a daycare and the operator was smoking a doobie, you can bet your sweet bippy I wouldn't be dropping her off there the next day. If you feel that your school all but undressed your daughter and put her in the hands of a pedophile, why would you take her to the same school the next day?

As long as we parents choose not to hit the schools where it hurts, why would they change? The truth is that most parents aren't willing to endure the extra hardship that is required to give them the very best. I fail in that area some as well. I could sit there and complain that my school is failing my daughter and throw my hands up or I could work to change it. Who's taking the Galt approach here?

 

[dburkhead]

Write to whoever you want. It won't do any good.

Find 10-20 parents of your school and tell them your story. Convince them that your school poses a danger to your children and enroll them in a different school. Then all of you write to every administrator of your old school and tell them they will be losing $5-10k in funding for each student leaving. Then explain to them why.

Talk about not doing any good. The old "if we had some ham we could have ham and eggs if we had some eggs." You complain about not being able to get voters to vote "good" politicians an and then replace them when they turn "bad"? Yet somehow, magically, we're supposed to get 10-20 parents to to cost themselves several thousands of dollars that they can _see_ because one parent, a stranger to them, had a bad experience?

Do you not see the inconsistency in those two positions?

Is somebody going to be fired because this incident? Highly unlikely. The prospect of an administrator having to deal with a budget $50k smaller than expected is guaranteed to get his attention. But there's one small problem with that. If you put your child in another school, you will most likely lose her free transportation.

There are more catches than one. If I have to spend money on more transportation that money is now no longer available for other things. And it's not free transportation. It's transportation that I'm already paying for and will continue to pay for regardless.

And if the school administrator is unhappy about that smaller budget, someone else will be ecstatic. Where do you think that money is going to go? It's certainly not going back to the taxpayers.

The system is designed to limit accountability. Who is going to get so pissed at a local school that they will give up free transportation or tuition bychoosing a different school? That goes for underperforming schools, schools who leave children at home with no parents, etc.

And you've just undermined your initial "suggestion."

And it's not giving up free transportation and tuition. It's giving up transportation and tuition that they've already paid for.

If I buy a car and don't like it I can at least sell it and get some of my money back. That option is not available here.

If I picked my daughter up from a daycare and the operator was smoking a doobie, you can bet your sweet bippy I wouldn't be dropping her off there the next day. If you feel that your school all but undressed your daughter and put her in the hands of a pedophile, why would you take her to the same school the next day?

"If." Why do you keep bringing up things that didn't happen? If I put my daughter in a private school and it turns out to be another Jim Jones cult...

Can you not support your position based on the facts at hand without resorting to made-up scenarios that didn't happen?

As long as we parents choose not to hit the schools where it hurts, why would they change?

I can cite examples of negative publicity getting schools to change policies and address problems. I've also seen schools be sued and lose big. How many can you cite of people getting together because a relative stranger had a bad experience, put their kids in other schools, and forcing a change that way?

The truth is that most parents aren't willing to endure the extra hardship that is required to give them the very best.

The truth is that some people don't realize that you can't have "the very best" across the board. Every decision, every. single. one. involves trade offs. If something costs more, that means that resources aren't available somewhere else.

And even if I went with a private school, I'd have my daughter taking some form of bus to and from school either from home or a daycare. And thus the potential for the exact same problem again. The claim was made uptopic that "if only one child...they were doing pretty good" (or words to that effect--not going to bother looking it up right now). If that's really the case then changing schools doesn't affect anything.

And if I do the transportation myself, well, I'm back to the same problem I outline earlier--do I put myself (who makes the majority of the money) or my wife (who gets the majority of the benefits) on the unemployment line in the current economy. Mortgage payment or healthcare, which do we keep?

I fail in that area some as well. I could sit there and complain that my school is failing my daughter and throw my hands up or I could work to change it.

You know, I saw a great cartoon once. It had an umpire sitting up in the stands at a baseball game. The caption was "Everybody seems to see so much better from up here."

You may not like my approach. You may not agree with it. You may think it is ultimately ineffective. But how _dare_ you say that I am not "working to change it." I am working in the ways I think are most likely to be effective. Negative publicity can and has worked. Lawsuits can and have worked. I am trying to work one and exploring the other.

And I am not ruling out running for school board.

Trying to get 5-10 essential strangers to spontaneously give up several thousand dollars a year (what they would essentially have to pay by switching schools) does not strike me as a very productive approach. Oh, maybe it would be successful if you could get the group to go along and to follow through. If. So much in such a small word.

Who's taking the Galt approach here?

You mean become one of the looters and moochers?

Something occurred to me in this thread. Rand only had _one_ person with kids among the folk Galt "recruited" and that person was a permanent resident in the gulch. There is a reason for that. That whole "I will be responsible only for myself" attitude falls apart once you start bringing kids into the picture. Walking away from a job, even walking away from a loveless, childless marriage, is one thing. Walking away from children that you have brought into the world, that's a whole other ballgame.

Unfortunately there is no Galt's Gulch. And if there is, I haven't exactly been issued an invitation so there's no sense including it in my planning. And without a Gulch to run away too I have to base my planning on the world out here, imperfect though it is and such betterments, small as they may be, uncertain as they may be, that I can hope to bring about out here.

So go chase your Gulch. To be honest, I hope you find it. But I don't expect it and, instead, expect that what you'll find at the final collapse of the system is one more failed state collapsed into barbarism, only this time with nukes.

 

[hornadylnl]

Dburkhead, what is your child's safety worth to you? I understand that you are already paying for the bus, school, etc. Is she not worth $1000, 2000, 3000 more?

Also, why could a free market approach work here? If a school has a track record of endangering students and lose enrollment, would they not improve? Again, what is your child's safety worth?

I was making about $16 bucks an hour when my daughter was born. We got our monthly payments down to the bare minimum and survived. Again, it was a choice I made and was worth it in the end. I didn't have a $100k house, 2 cars on payments, eat out every day, etc. At least I didn't have massive student loan debt!

 

[Protest]

dburkhead, your avatar shows that you believe the government will destroy the healthcare in this country. So why would you think that they can do a good job with education, even after they've proven directly to you that they can't?

If you dropped your child off at a friend's house for a Saturday afternoon and they misplaced your child, would you give them a second chance? No! So if you wouldn't do it for a friend, why would you do it for a stranger?

I have 7 children and I know where they are at at all times. Why? Because they are with my wife, at home, learning things naturally and with loving parents and family.

What do we get for such a luxury of teaching our children at home? Beans and rice man, beans and rice. That is the consistency of many meals and is a sacrifice we make. What is my reward? Knowing that I took care of my own children and knew where they were and what they were learning every step of the way until the time comes for them to go and marry and have their own.

 

[JetGirl]

What do we get for such a luxury of teaching our children at home? Beans and rice man, beans and rice. That is the consistency of many meals and is a sacrifice we make.

And not the fancy canned/boxed kind...the DIY kind!

 

[dburkhead]

I do notice that you've switched back from specific "suggestions" to vague generalities again. It's always so much easier to speak in glittering generalities and repeat slogans such as "it's for the children" or "what is your child's safety worth?"

Dburkhead, what is your child's safety worth to you? I understand that you are already paying for the bus, school, etc. Is she not worth $1000, 2000, 3000 more?

What is her health care worth? What is the time that I spend with her rather than in some office worth?

If safety is the be all and end all, then I'm sure you can tell me that your kids are kept in a nice, safe bubble all day.

Are you really playing the "it's for the children" card so beloved of the left?

Also, why could a free market approach work here? If a school has a track record of endangering students and lose enrollment, would they not improve? Again, what is your child's safety worth?

Interesting. You don't believe that approach could work for politics but you do believe it can work here.

And again we go with the "its for the children."

I was making about $16 bucks an hour when my daughter was born. We got our monthly payments down to the bare minimum and survived. Again, it was a choice I made and was worth it in the end. I didn't have a $100k house, 2 cars on payments, eat out every day, etc. At least I didn't have massive student loan debt!

Oh, and of course that you were able to manage in your situation means that anybody could, right? After all, nobody has different problems and different challenges, right?

So let's see, I quit my job. Suddenly we're living on my wife's salary. House goes. I mean, we're not in the nicest neighborhood but it's far from the worst either. How much is my child's safety worth? It's worth not having to live in the kind of dumps we'd be restricted too on just my wife's salary. Or maybe my wife quits her job. Well, there goes the health insurance. How much is my daughter's safety worth? It's worth providing good insurance for her.

Or maybe I can find some job that pays enough to have us living in a reasonably decent neighborhood, pay for health care, and let my wife stay home. Maybe. But, funny thing is, the jobs that do that that I've found and that I'm qualified for are all long hours, long commutes, or lots of travel or require relocating to places like Taxachussets or the Illinois SSR. How much is my daughter's safety worth? It's worth her having a father who is there, who has time for her (not as much as I'd like, but some anyway), and for her to live in a place where freedom still matters at least a little bit.

Every decision has its downsides. There are all sorts of things that could, if luck fails, hurt my little girl. I cannot guard against all of them. No one can. All I can do is make the best play I can with the game on the table, try to minimize the downsides, and try to deal with the problems that do come up.

 

[DocGlock86]

do we know why she was late? what if a kid was sick and she was attending to the needs of a sick child because the office staff was on the phones or making sure someone wasnt entering the building that wasnt supposed to?

See I understand that and I didn't have a problem with her being late. My problem was the attitude she had. Like I said she walks in 20 minutes after school starts, doesn't smile and say I'm sorry or I had a meeting. She tells the kids sit down and looks at us parents and say "You all need to leave".

 

[dburkhead]

dburkhead, your avatar shows that you believe the government will destroy the healthcare in this country. So why would you think that they can do a good job with education, even after they've proven directly to you that they can't?

If you dropped your child off at a friend's house for a Saturday afternoon and they misplaced your child, would you give them a second chance? No! So if you wouldn't do it for a friend, why would you do it for a stranger?

I have 7 children and I know where they are at at all times. Why? Because they are with my wife, at home, learning things naturally and with loving parents and family.

What do we get for such a luxury of teaching our children at home? Beans and rice man, beans and rice. That is the consistency of many meals and is a sacrifice we make. What is my reward? Knowing that I took care of my own children and knew where they were and what they were learning every step of the way until the time comes for them to go and marry and have their own.

How fortunate for you. So if it worked out that way for you it must work out that way for everyone?

Nobody has ever had problems from that approach? Are you so sure of yourself?

One of the problems of the Left is that they are so sure of their own rightness that they can't imagine any rational person doing anything different than what they want. That's also one of the problems of the Right. That's actually one of the problems with most people in general; They are unable to see much beyond their own little world of their own prejudices, beliefs, and situations.

Yes, my avatar has "repeal the bill." My previous avatar had "the BATF, OSHA for criminals". (Which is also a set of bumper stickers and the like that I have for sale at Cafe Press.) Personally, I think ATF should be a convenience store (and in Michael Z. Williamson's novel "Better to Beg Forgiveness" it is just that) and, yes the bill should be repealed (as should quite a few of the current administration's bills). But what should be and what are are two different things. The BATF and all that goes with it is there. I have to deal with it. If the bill is not repealed and goes fully into effect on schedule than despite all that I think should be I will have to deal with it.

And even if pulling my daughter out of public school were a viable option at this time, it still would not be an instantaneous one. Sure, I could quit my job today if I really wanted to but without proper planning and structuring that would really work well, don't you think? The bills are still there. We don't have a cheap place to live that's still there. Cash reserves are low because 1) I've been focusing on paying down debt and 2) since some of what I foresee happening is likely to make savings and investments so much waste paper, I've been focusing my "savings" on physical goods rather than cash. I have the beans and rice. They're reserves against the time the store shelves may end up being empty or against hyperinflation where I'd have to trundle in a wheelbarrow of money to buy a bar of soap and a jar of pickles.

In any case, pulling my daughter out of her school is not something that can be done today. Last time I checked, school attendance was mandatory for children of her age. Switching schools is something that takes time. Arranging for someone to be home for homeschooling takes time. Were I to choose either option Athena would still have to go back to the same school in the interim. That means I still have to deal with the problem at the current school. So either I deal with the problem at the current school--in which case it is dealt with and no longer drives any immediate need to change--or I don't deal with it at the current school--in which case she'd still be at serious risk until I could change her educational arrangements. So, better to deal with it now