Bureaucrats 1, me 0
Warning: grouchy complaining to follow
For the most part, our little family tries to go through life avoiding joining organized groups of anything: clubs, sports teams, churches-- specifically because it requires relinquishing autonomy and having to accept choices with which we may disagree strongly. However, some interaction is inevitable and I am currently banging my head against the computer desk, raging against a machine designed wholly to facilitate the movement of paper between central office and branch outpost and to make my life harder. The Seattle public schools
Now, we do our part. I vote for every school bond. We pay our property taxes with a smile knowing that we will reap what we sow and she will get a good education provided by the funding we offer up twice a year. I kept her in city schools as our peers bought in the suburbs believing that there was nothing wrong with our school district that a little parent involvement couldn't fix. Hence the sense of betrayal.
I went to register her for school as soon as we got back from NC, only to discover that the registration office was closed until mid-August. I was annoyed that I had driven all the way out there only to be turned away so unceremoniously (isn't this kind of thing exactly what the "news section" on their website is for?). But, I returned the day after arriving home from France (bloody-eyed and jetlagged) to register her for the new year.
We live 15 blocks from the middle school she has always assumed she would go to, well within the walk zone. Part of the appeal of our house is that it is 4 blocks from the elementary school, 15 from the middle school, and a mile from the high school. Unfortunately, the middle school is full. Unfortunately, every middle school in the northern half of Seattle is full. Unfortunately, every middle school in the northern part of the southern half of Seattle is full. Unfortunately, our choices are between a school 10 miles away and 13 miles away. I chose the ten.
But wait, there's more-
Unfortunately, due to a missing $20 million, the district no longer busses middle and high school student who chose schools out of "zone," they ride public transit. Unfortunately, both of our options are out of "zone." Unfortunately the school day starts at 7:35 so she has to catch a 6:15 bus to get there in time and wait around, downtown, before the sun comes up, for a transfer. I didn't like doing that when I was a freshman in college, let alone to a middle school kid.
This can't possibly be safe or healthy.
Rat bastards.
Warning: grouchy complaining to follow
For the most part, our little family tries to go through life avoiding joining organized groups of anything: clubs, sports teams, churches-- specifically because it requires relinquishing autonomy and having to accept choices with which we may disagree strongly. However, some interaction is inevitable and I am currently banging my head against the computer desk, raging against a machine designed wholly to facilitate the movement of paper between central office and branch outpost and to make my life harder. The Seattle public schools
Now, we do our part. I vote for every school bond. We pay our property taxes with a smile knowing that we will reap what we sow and she will get a good education provided by the funding we offer up twice a year. I kept her in city schools as our peers bought in the suburbs believing that there was nothing wrong with our school district that a little parent involvement couldn't fix. Hence the sense of betrayal.
I went to register her for school as soon as we got back from NC, only to discover that the registration office was closed until mid-August. I was annoyed that I had driven all the way out there only to be turned away so unceremoniously (isn't this kind of thing exactly what the "news section" on their website is for?). But, I returned the day after arriving home from France (bloody-eyed and jetlagged) to register her for the new year.
We live 15 blocks from the middle school she has always assumed she would go to, well within the walk zone. Part of the appeal of our house is that it is 4 blocks from the elementary school, 15 from the middle school, and a mile from the high school. Unfortunately, the middle school is full. Unfortunately, every middle school in the northern half of Seattle is full. Unfortunately, every middle school in the northern part of the southern half of Seattle is full. Unfortunately, our choices are between a school 10 miles away and 13 miles away. I chose the ten.
But wait, there's more-
Unfortunately, due to a missing $20 million, the district no longer busses middle and high school student who chose schools out of "zone," they ride public transit. Unfortunately, both of our options are out of "zone." Unfortunately the school day starts at 7:35 so she has to catch a 6:15 bus to get there in time and wait around, downtown, before the sun comes up, for a transfer. I didn't like doing that when I was a freshman in college, let alone to a middle school kid.
This can't possibly be safe or healthy.
Rat bastards.
posted by csg | 8:30 AM
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