Cruiser

To the moon!

I'm talking a lot about school lately because the city is in the middle of a giant, messy decision making process about what to do with its school buildings -- which ones will be renovated, and what schools will operate each building. If ever there were a time for yiddish from a shiksa, it is now: What mishegas. I don't envy Paul Vallas, the widely reviled superintendent of the Recovery School District, and his politically impossible job. But I don't feel sorry for him either, because really? This is not going very well so far. 

My neighborhood is getting organized to take charge of what happens to the Colton School, a place I hope will be the future site of all of Margot's elementary school foibles, but which is right now set to go to KIPP.  It would be the fourth KIPP school in our district. Fourth! So we are pitching a fit, rallying on about process (it should be transparent and community driven) and school choice (maybe there should be some?), but in general we try to stay nice about KIPP. 

It's uncomfortable, and weird to be the David to a Goliath who's mission is giving underserved kids a real shot at college success. But those KIPPsters (their name, not mine) are nothing if not organized -- bussing people into public meetings, offering one another snaps of support, covered head to toe in KIPP gear. Which makes them, well, a little intense and honestly, not that hard to dislike. There's a ton of debate over whether their programs are a good idea for any kid from any background. I'll let google be your master on that one -- while I have my suspicions I don't really feel educated enough to take a strong position about their work.

But I know for sure that a school that promises Margot college as if it were the moon is not a place I am ever going to send her. That bar is too low, and also terribly rigid -- and it just isn't the question mark in our lives that it is for others. 

Of course, we could do all of this work and still end up with a charter at Colton that we still won't send Margot to. But it seems worth a fight -- it seems worth it for people in our neighborhood to have more than one option for public school -- and to try to get this city to do this big job a least a little bit right. 

Polkie Dot Monday

This is a tradition we started several months ago, but we are just now getting around to taking photos.

Eight months in, talking about school.

I'm no expert on the public school system. I'm not even a product of it. But I desperately want Margot to be, and right now is when a lot of decisions are being made that will have an enormous impact on her future.

It has taken me years to get even the most cursory handle on what has been happening to the schools in this city since Katrina. Three quarters of the schools here are now charter schools -- so that (as it was once described to me) we don't so much have a school system as a system of schools. Most of these are run not by a local school board, but by what was intended to be a temporary state entity called the Recovery School District. There is no teacher's union here. And, after every single faculty member in the city was fired post-Katrina, the majority of students are being taught by Teach for America corps. Most of the successful public schools here are selective admission -- meaning you have to take a test to get in.

Some people say things are much better. Others say that New Orleans is essentially re-segregating its public school system. Community members are fighting for their own community schools. And I can smell it already -- the potential gap between what I feel is just for this city and what I feel is right for my kid. This is easily the most complicated mess I have ever tried to wrap my brain around. 

Right now, it looks like KIPP is set to take control of three schools in my neighborhood. I (think?) I applaud a lot what that organization is up to, but with a mission to educate first generation college graduates, KIPP schools just aren't for Margot. Or tons of other kids who live around here. So, what about school choice? And why not a school that is designed for all different kinds of kids? So I am setting up camp with the Colton School folks. I want this so badly for Margot. 

A school that offers children of the surrounding neighborhoods an opportunity for a first rate education.  Specifically, the school must have a specific neighborhood enrollment zone; that is, the children of the neighborhoods surrounding the school must be either guaranteed places in the school or given preference.  Remaining spots can be open to students throughout the city on a lottery basis.   A school where students, parents and faculty reflect the racial and cultural diversity of the neighborhood.  In addition, students of all socioeconomic levels should be attending the school together.  Having an integrated school would help unite the diverse communities that make up the Marigny, St. Roch, St. Claude and Bywater neighborhoods.   A school that attracts dedicated educators by creating a professional environment in which teachers can develop their full long-term potential.  This includes the recognition that long-term, experienced, committed teachers also have family and community obligations, and that retaining these teachers will require realistic professional expectations that do not preclude teachers' fulfilling such obligations. A school that recognizes the importance of meaningful engagement with parents and the community.  A true neighborhood school should honor thevision of parents and concerned community members, not the strategic plan of a large organization based outside the community.

Me and My Full Time Job

My status as a working mom is one of those things that I worry about a lot, but have almost zero capacity to actually think about. This is partially due to the fact that anytime I hear the word "mom" in reference to myself, I get sort of dizzy and black out for a second. I am also this way with the word "daughter". What did you say? Peanuts? 

But the bigger reasons this subject makes my brain hurt are A) It makes me feel horribly guilty and B) It seems that even if I did decide the current situation were untenable, there's actually not much we could do about it. An old friend from high school recently suggested  that I should just "work until it isn't fun anymore." Which is hilarious -- her assumption being that my husband carries the actual financial load and I just work to get out of the house or something? Alas, my income is not lagniappe. 

Another key problem is that I actually kind of love my job. Terrible, I know. Some days are crappy and some items on my to-do list drive me positively bonkers, but overall I have a pretty sweet deal, and several projects about which I care very deeply. 

Anyway. This is not a blog entry where we solve this dilemma! It is merely a state of the union type mention. This is how things be. I love my job, and I wish it would go away. I was reminded of it reading this article in salon today, about a mom who "opted out," as they say, and is now having a beast of a time getting back into the workforce. The world is too much with us, y'all.