all day kindergarten

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

OK, so in all of my rant, I forgot to mention the substitute teacher who reached into his blazer pocket for a piece of chalk he'd stashed there and accidentally spilled pornographic pictures all over the floor when he pulled his hand back out... and the substitute history teacher who took it upon herself to give us a lecture on the birds and the bees, using every swear word known to man, ostensibly because she thought it'd make her seem "cool", and then handing out condoms in class...even after numerous student and parent complaints, the woman was back subbing within the week.    I'm sure there are other enlightening and educational experiences I have since forgotten about....


And, as it somewhat relates to this thread, I'll recount what happened last night at the gas station.  I went last night about 8 o'clock to fill up the truck because I'm going looking at farms today and didn't want to have to squeeze it in this morning.  A man is hanging around the pumps trying to get people to sign his petition.  Forgive me because I don't type so well in ebonics, but have to try to give you a true sense of the conversation.  The guy approaches me after getting signatures from the women in the car next to me.  He says, "Ma'am, you wanna sign my petition to get all the stuff for the schools and increase the teachuh pay?  We so fah behind all the othuh states, and dis is to get all de school supplies like what dey got in Texas an' all the othuh states."  I'm thinking to myself, Buddy, you are sure asking the wrong person.  I took a deep breath and said, "Well, while I respect you taking the initiative to be politically active, and while the public schools certainly need help, I can't sign your petition."
  This got his hackles up and he didn't even try to conceal that he was angry because I wouldn't sign it.  He said, "No, ma'am, I don't think you unduhstand... this is just to make us like the other states what got mo' teachuh pay and to get bettah teachuhs and to buy all de school supplies that the kids need."
  I said, "Friend, I do not support anything that will raise the sales taxes going to the school system."  At this point, he interjected, "Well, this ain't gonna raise taxes... they's no tax associated wif it."
  So I asked him, "Where do you suppose that the money will come from to buy all those school supplies and to pay the teachers more?  I guarantee you no politician is going to take a pay cut in order to give part of his paycheck to some lowly public school teacher... it will eventually and inevitably come out of the taxpayer's pockets.  For years, we have thrown more and more money at the public schools always crying 'it's FOR the KIDS' and the public school systems are more broken now than they were ten or twenty years ago.  They're turning out illiterate graduates by the thousands.  Sir, I teach my kids at home because I will not and cannot in good conscience turn them over to such a bankrupt system.  I know not everyone can do that, so God help them."
  He started in again, "This ain't no tax!  I don't know why you think it has to do with taxes!"
  I felt bad for him.  I really did.  I think in his heart, he was trying to do something good and helpful, and I really believe he was sincere and passionate.  By this time my gas tank was nearly full, and so I told him, "Sir, the fool has said in his heart there is no God.  The public schools are based on a foolish premise, and they reject a Creator at every turn.  Until that fundamental truth is reinstated in our public schools, I WILL NOT support a public school in any way, shape, or form.  I am sorry; I think you're really trying to do something good, I do.  But if the foundation is bad, the whole building is bad.  It doesn't matter how many times you patch the drywall, it will keep cracking until the whole thing eventually will sag and crumble.  I really can't sign your petition, though I do respect your initiative and tenacity." He walked off in a huff, obviously really mad at me, and not understanding where I am coming from at all.  I do feel bad for the public schools, and for the teachers, and for the kids.  BUT, to knowingly support such a bankrupt system goes against the very core of my beliefs, and for the moment at least, we still have religious freedom in this country, so I intend to enjoy and fight for that freedom, including the freedom to train my kids up at home and the freedom to choose not to sign a petition that I don't agree with.  I don't have a choice about paying sales taxes... but I do have a choice to simply buy as little as possible. 

[Sassy]

Way to go, Homey!     So when are you running for public office?  I'll vote for you 

My school experience was pretty pale compared to yours...  mild teachers on the whole - a couple used to yell at us, one threw a chalkboard eraser across the room & actually said "damn"    In junior high school (7th & 8th grades) we had a couple teachers who couldn't control the class real good - one of the kids climbed out of the window; the rest of us would take turns getting passes to the restrooms & would throw wet soapy paper wads on the ceiling...  we'd get demerits if we were caught chewing gum even at lunchtime...     In high school kids would smoke in the bathrooms - I hated to go in there, so usually would get a pass during class when people weren't there smoking...  a few of the guys came to school drunk after drinking orange & lemon extract in orange juice...  uhhh, not real exciting - one major fight during lunch time where everyone circled around... a few fights after school.  Oh, yeah, in 7th grade, before school, a couple 8th grade girls got in a fight & one girl tore the bra off the other girl...  During my freshman year in highschool, the teacher was pregnant - no one even said the word "pregnant" - finally someone wrote on the board "is she or isn't she, only her obstetrician (sp) knows for sure" after she was bursting out of her regular clothes...  I think because everything was so hush hush back then that kids were curious & the big sexual revolution/drugs started - it's better for parents to talk to their kids, explain things in a natural way... 

I was just bored in school, couldn't really see the relevancy of what they were teaching to my life... spent my time reading my own choice of books during class...

And I agree with you, HG, that if the foundation is bad, the whole thing will end up being bad... 

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

   Gotta love the "is she or isn't she?"  I had a really boring freshman history teacher.  History is such an interesting subject, so I never understood how so many teachers could make it so dull.  Anyway, my friend Tina and I whittled away at a little hole in the wall because we were seated at the back corner of the room next to the wall.  The hole was already there, but we just made it a little bigger, just big enough that a pencil could squeeze through it.  On the outside of that wall, you couldn't see the hole because of the color/texture of the wall... it opened up to the main doors of the highschool, right outside the office, and you could get a perfect shot at whoever was coming through the door.  We'd pick up little short nubs of pencils we'd find lying around and use them as projectiles through our "rocket launcher"... the victim could never figure out where they came from.  After all, they were walking alone into the school hall, and there was no one around during classes and then a pencil comes flying out of nowhere.  We got the principal a few times.  One time he came storming into the class because he'd seen which direction the pencil came from, but when he came in yelling about it, we all acted innocent and the teacher looked at him like he was crazy because he'd never noticed the hole.  I had something called the "halo syndrome"... you know, teachers think that if you're a good student that you must also be angelically good.   

[Sassy]

    That's a really good one, HG!  Yeah, I love history now but only one of my classes made it interesting - my junior year we were studying the Vietnam war... 

Did you have the type of desks that if you leaned over on the one side the desk would tip over?  I never tipped over but I had friends who did - that was when the mini-skirt was popular - they'd be stuck on their side flailing about    We used to pass a lot of notes back & forth - one mortifying day, I'd written to my best friend stating that I'd never been kissed - my freshman year - anyway, the teacher had warned if he caught us passing notes again he was going to read it to the whole class - well, you guessed it - he intercepted the note (he'd placed us on opposite sides of the room to keep us from talking) - I was just about in tears - I guess he had mercy on me & didn't read it.

I was pretty quiet usually, always had my head in a book so didn't get in much trouble except for the major stuff like talking or passing notes, chewing gum 

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Got caught in my algebra II class writing a comic strip.  Had a couple of friends in there who were a year younger than me and we would spend our class every day drawing new comic strips of a series we made up.  The cartoon me was the bad guy, and the two guys I wrote the comic strip with were the helpless nitwit and the flying superhero.  My character was in league with the evil coach/ math teacher and the flying superhero would try to recue the helpless nitwit from the grasp of my character and the evil math teacher...needless to say, the math teacher was way less than thrilled when he read it!!!  My friend Manuel was the one who started it, but I was the one caught with it.  My character had horns that poked through a straw hat and wore overalls and a cape and could fly.  I thought it was riotously funny.  Manuel's character looked kind of light Mighty Mouse, and Roderick's character looked like a football player in a 'damsel in distress' costume.  Somewhere I still have a few of those old comics I saved. 

[Sassy]

   See, public school wasn't a total loss!