A Parent's School Woe ...

I’ve written and rewritten this entry for weeks now. Hard not to just go off on all of them!

With every new story, rumor, political spin and grandstanding – it’s like a personal attack. This is about my children’s education. They spend most their time in that environment. How can it not feel personal?

Last week I received an e-mail – from SaveSUHSD. Don’t know who they are – but it had nothing to do with saving SUHSD (Sweetwater Union High School District) and everything to do with a targeted political attack. YUCK. If it was truly meant to save, then it should have been about solutions for classes, education, programs, funding ... it should have been focused on providing better for our children.

The subject on that e-mail was “Creating Division at SUHSD” … congratulations. Mission accomplished. Now what?

Caught in the crossfire between teacher unions, administration, boardmembers, outsourced contracts, political posturing, blatantly bad decisions and the sad state of our CA budget are the teachers, the students and the parents. And it doesn’t stop there -

Schools are hubs of the community. If you were a perspective homebuyer or renter with kids – would CV be your first choice? How about donating to an education foundation – would you consider the local Mariachi, Sweetwater or Eastlake Foundations?  Could this be why High Tech High has an incredible amount of families vying for their coveted spots?

Sadder yet, are the good teachers and the good experiences that are put out of sight. It’s easier to share the complaints – I should know, I have a list. And quite frankly it feels good to vent. But like a child who constantly gets ridiculed and demeaned – the spirit can break.

While there has been a change at the top – I don’t think it’s the cure all. If all the rumors and accusations are true – and since we’re continuing to deal with budget cuts - the changes need to start within as well.

So hear is my urge to you – to all parents. 

First of all get involved and get informed. The more you know about your own school and the more you get involved; the better position you’ll be in to offer solutions, decipher the rumors and make changes if needed. 

If you work long hours – Check in with teachers by e-mail, phone call, or write a quick note. Meet with your administrators. Make sure they know you by name. A quick meet and greet. Demand information if needed.

Read up. There have been several thorough write ups and journalist covering SUHSD – Ashly McGlore and Wendy Fry at the Union Tribune; Carlos Davalos at Star News now has some video coverage too; Emily Alpert at Voice of San Diego. Add them to the RSS feed –  or follow on Twitter: SoBayBoardMtgs, sdutAshly, emilyschoolsyou, wendyfry, suhsd, starnewseditor. It's like following a radio show.Concise play by play of meetings. It keeps you in the know.

And of course talk to your kids! You'll be surprised how much they know. 

At the end, if it feels like no one else is watching out for our kids – then you’ll know you are. 

Our kids go back to school mid July; I’ll be joining the conversation with weekly updates on my experience as a parent at SUHSD. Maybe you’ll like to share yours too. And just maybe we’ll find more good than the bad and ugly.

- PC