>I wanted my daughter to attend a specific high school where I know the principal personally. The school is much better than the one here and she has only 3 more years of high school to prepare for college so it is important. What was once the most sought after school in my present area has turned into a location which is patrolled by police with gang fights and bomb threats. The day the school had a bomb threat and when the police finished scouting the inside of the building they let the kids back in and then inspected the outside and found a book bag in the bushes with a 45mm and boxes of ammo was the last straw for me. It is still one of the best schools for sports but other than that, in the past year it has turned into a danger zone. I'm afraid that is becoming the case with almost all public schools in the U.S. these days. Too much drama. I was fortunate (extremely so) that I was offered a position with an excellent company. Immediately afterwards I was offered another
>position as well with a different company in the same area which surprised me because all I have heard on the UT is that there are no VFP jobs out there. Of course often timing is everything and the timing may just have been right. To be honest, if nothing had been available to me by the time school started next fall I would have taken two jobs (or how many it would take) as a waitress, bartender, cleaning houses, or whatever to make the move. My personal belief is that when you accept the responsbility of being a parent you do whatever it takes to give your children the training and experience they need to do well in life (to the best of your abilities). Hopefully when I am old and grey (already getting there to be honest) she will return the favor. :o)
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Well, we hope she would! We home schooled our last two. The oldest got out of high school before it got too terrible. Like you, I think the public school system is down the tubes. Here in Memphis, it is unsafe for anyone, even the cops that work there! I would probably get fired or indicted if I were a teacher, because I believe in behavior modification, and I don't mind increasing the punishment to shape the behavior. It seems the people in charge, don't care, and aren't willing to do what is necessary to make people behave and become good citizens. The NEA has pretty much ruined the public schools by defending the marginal teacher and implementing touchy-feely policies as opposed to the tried and true means of instruction. (My wife is a retired teacher).