Tales of a School Board Meeting

So in order to be a supportive wife and whatnot, I went with hubby last night to an event he had to attend for one of his education classes...dum de dum dum...a school board meeting. And no, I didn't fall asleep, although at several points, I wanted to. The meeting lasted two hours. TWO. HOURS. And do you want to know how many items on the agenda actually had to do with what kids were learning in class? One. One item. And it was kind of stupid when they explained it and didn't sound like anything new as the teachers claimed. It sounded like a bunch of high priced recycled hokey that any fool could think of, but our educational system feels the need to pay thousands of dollars (or probably more, they didn't talk about the cost of the new curriculum, imagine that) to help children with their math skills. Whatever happened to some good 'ole fashioned study and memorization to get it right?

I have always loved teachers. There have been several teachers through the years that have touched my life in some way, from elementary to the college level. Amazingly, these teachers didn't have the latest in new curriculum, the latest in technology, and the newest of the new classrooms to teach in. What they did have was a love for their subject, a vast knowledge of what they were trying to convey to their class, and a desire to see each child succeed. One professor in college, whom I refer to as Quasimodo because of an unfortunate resemblance, used nothing but his voice to convey to us his knowledge of Western Civilization. His tests were hard, the papers we had to write on obscure books long and somewhat tedious. But he stands out in my mind as one of the best teachers I have ever had because he was so immersed in what he taught. He painted pictures for us of the Greeks and Romans and I have never forgotten him or his class or, more importantly, what I learned from him.

Teachers, or shall I say, GOOD TEACHERS, are just one piece of the puzzle that has nothing to do with curriculum or budgets. Parents are the biggest piece. They can either instill in a child the yearning to do great things, or they can sit on the sidelines of their child's education and be oblivious. Luckily, my parents were my biggest cheerleaders and also my hardest critics. Every night they would make sure that all my homework was done, every weekend talk would inevitably turn to projects due (remember the Science Fair projects, Mom?). However, they didn't just make sure I had done the work assigned - they were in contact with my teachers, were involved with events at school, and knew all of my friends' parents. They were on the ball. And they both worked full-time jobs. It can be done. I lived through it. And nothing ticks me off more than a parent who isn't 120% involved in their child's education. No excuse is a good excuse for that and I know, as I'm writing this, that I'm setting the bar high for myself and my husband and our future children.

So what did I learn last night at the school board meeting? That beauracracy is still alive and well in our public school systems. That several of the board members (one in particular) looked like she hated kids and hated what she was doing. That not enough parents attend and ask questions. And that it was the most boring two hours of my entire life, but I will be at every school board meeting made available to me when I have kids. I want to know what's going on.