This morning Orange County Schools posted the "registration" form that will be used to decide which children to expel from Hillsborough Elementary later this spring.
This was the first opportunity any of the "unwashed masses" had a chance to see the document - interestingly, that reportedly also includes the Board of Education, to which everyone on the OCS staff ultimately reports.
Parents of rising 3rd, 4th and 5th graders automatically "grandfathered" into the school are only required to complete an "Intent to Remain at HES" question on the form and return it to OCS by March 21, 2008.
Everyone else will have to complete the entire form which includes intrusive questions about the number of people living in your home, how many of those people are adults, the total "household income from all sources" and the educational level of each parent regardless of whether they both live in the child's household.
Aside from the repugnant nature of the underlying policy of expelling children from a public school funded by their parents' tax dollars, I have a real problem with some of the assumptions inherent in the questions on this "registration" form.
In particular, I take issue with the questions about parental educational achievement. This entire process was reportedly designed to reduce the Free & Reduced Lunch disparity between HES, CES and the rest of the District. Since then it has degenerated into a process of segmenting people at the school by household income and educational attainment - regardless whether the families in question receive free or reduced lunches.
Can someone explain the direct, cause and effect relationship between education level and FRL status? I have known many people with graduate degrees who chose to follow a personal calling into less lucrative professions. Should their children be penalized for that choice?
Presumably, the Ph.Ds running OCS believe that only uneducated people have low incomes, or worse yet, that only people with higher educations (like themselves) can financially succeed in our capitalist system.
Of course, I can only presume this because no one in the Central Office has bothered to explain why "educational level" is even on the form. It was not something mandated by the Board at any meeting.
But, this arrogance aside, I have more problems with the assumptions that go along with requiring people to provide the educational level of a child's "mother" and "father."
We live in a very diverse community with families of many different types. However, the OCS assumes everyone fits their pre-conceived notion of what a family looks like - one man and one woman living together in the same home to raise their biological children. To assume that picture is representative of everyone who might want to send their child to HES is closed-minded and arrogant.
In fact, I doubt you could find a parent in our county who doesn't know a family that breaks that 1950s model. There are plenty of single-parent families, foster families, blended families, and same-sex partner families in our community, and they should all be offended by the assumptions made by the school system their taxes pay to support.
How are these members of the community supposed to answer those "required" questions, and better yet, why should they be?
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18 comments:
Amen! That's just what I thought when I read the registration form too. Do you think the ACLU would be interested in this?
If "diverting" the $300k from Title I schools isn't going to cause a reduction in services or jobs (as the BoE has stated), then why are they cutting K-2 classes at HES down to only 3? Smaller class sizes are what's needed at that age, so unless they're planning on putting 25+ kids together in a class, then they've (once again) lied. I can tell you from experience, the teachers at those levels already have their hands full- adding more kids to the class will be a disaster. But then again, I guess that was their plan all along...
I agree. I did not fill out any of those questions. It has nothing to do with the education of my child.
I have never been more outraged before, than when I read the application process. We are now in reverse discrimination! No one on the OCS seems to care one bit about the children at these schools. It is infuriating!
The registration form we received will be rife with inaccuracies upon return.
Unbelievable. Where is Ms. Horner in this process? It's time for her to demonstrate that she is not afraid to stand up for HES!
Mrs. Horner's hands are tied. This is a school board decision that is unethical. Please do not drag her into this - she is an amazing leader and needs our support.
Tink's Mom
Ms. Horner has been extremely concerned by and supportive of HES throughout this entire process. I know that she has spent hours with parents, board members, and administrators in an attempt to minimize impact on the school she loves and those she considers her family. Ms. Horner was one of the original HES teachers. She left HES to continue her education. Those of us who attend PTA meetings have heard her speak passionately about her love for the school, how she considers us her family, and how very upset she is at how we have been talked about and treated. Through communication about the process, she has attempted to keep us as informed as possible. Granted, we have not felt very informed but then neither has she. We are very fortunate to have Ms. Horner leading our school!
None of this has been a site based decision. The former superintendent and five members of the Orange County Board of Education are fully to blame.
Ms. Horner is also working in the community. She has scheduled HES open house tour dates. She is reaching out to local community leaders and attending services at local churches.
This 'registration form' vaguely resembles the FRL application. It's just missing a couple of questions.
CES Parent
Allan Wrote, “Can someone explain the direct, cause and effect relationship between education level and FRL status? I have known many people with graduate degrees who chose to follow a personal calling into less lucrative professions. Should their children be penalized for that choice?”
Allan you are either completely naive or just intentional blind to the social reality that exist between higher education and income. Yes there is a relation between FRL and education status. That is not to say that 100% of all FRL families have parents with minimal educations, but by far a majority of them are. The same in reverse is true as well. There are some families with parents that hold BS and higher degrees that are FRL but that is by far a minority.
It is the very relationship of education levels and income potential, or lack there of as the case may be, that HES and any other parent for that matter are so concerned about. We want our children to get the background nessary in primary school so they will succeed in their future education. We want this because we understand they will be much more successful in life because they will make more money with more education, and more importantly will have a better understanding of how to send and save the money they make with more education.
hes father of 3 said "We want our children to get the background nessary in primary school so they will succeed in their future education."
Question: What is a 'background nessary?' I don't know what that is.
"Allan you are either completely naive or just intentional blind to the social reality that exist between higher education and income."
An intentional blind? Is that what you use in duck hunting? I'm sorry, I'm a bit naive on the subject.
The last two posts are uncalled for. The HES father of 3 was making a point that was important to him. The fact that he mispelled a few words is irrelevant. Making fun of him plays right back into the elitist stigma we do not want at HES.
Anonymous Wrote:
Question: What is a 'background nessary?' I don't know what that is.
I beg your pardon. It should read 'background necessary’. I am talking about the fundamentals in education that are built upon in higher grades. Reading, writing, math. Things that HES do such a great job in teaching our kids.
I am extremly interested in knowing what the BoE is going to do to improve education in the two failing schools that they are forcing kids back into. There has been no mention of a plan to improve education at these schools. I can promise you that K, 1st, and 2nd graders, will not improve the schools by channeling their intelligence to the other students. Antoher thing I can promise is that the BoE will not force my child back into a failing school just to improve test scores. He is my responsibility and I will find another option. Their plan is futile. The kids can't improve the school, the BoE has to. Sorry if this is a little off topic. Just had to get it off my chest. I will whole-heartedly be supporting Attention Orange.
To anonymous Feb 7 @11:41 am,
I wrote the first comment, and I'm not an HES parent. You know what ASSUME stands for?
I did not assume anything. Someone from China can post a message on here. But I know for a fact that whatever is posted on this site is seen as reflection on HES parents. And it's not me who's making a "you know what" out of himself or herself. It's you. The main point is that you were wrong, regardless of where you come from.
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