Thankful to Be Done with Public Education

 Yesterday in the local paper there was an article about a meeting with the community of Milford and the new Superintendent of the Wawasee School Corporation.  His goal was to heal the wound that the tax referendum had uncovered in the fall.  That sounded like a nice idea.  Although I didn't agree with his statement that Wawasee would become one of the premier school systems in Northern Indiana, I applauded his effort.  That was until I read that the teacher pictured sitting beside him at the meeting was hired as the interim public relations liaison to the superintendent.  

After that statement I was so mad that I could barely finish the article.  When I worked in the Wawasee school system, lack of money was the reason for every teacher request denial.  During my last year of teaching, I had thirty-two students in one of my math classes.  I didn't have enough seats for all of them and was given makes shift tables and chairs in an effort for each child to have a work space.  The behavior issues in that class were well documented by myself and other educators.  When I realized that we were failing this group immensely with overcrowding, short supplies and lack of discipline protocols outside of my classroom, I asked for help.  I was told that there was no funds available for better suited seating or for an additional adult in my classroom.  Basically, I had to come up with my own plan.  As a veteran teacher, I was able to do that so that we could make some academic progress that school year, but it wasn't what was best for the students.

That wasn't my first experience with lack of funding.  When I taught FACS I was given outdated equipment and a minuscule budget.  I spent a lot of my own time and money to make it a fun yet educational environment for students.  As frustrating as my math and FACS experience was, I believe that the hardest "lack of funds" excuse to accept was when a group of middle school teachers asked to have an individual hired to monitor a classroom that would support students with behavioral issues.  It would give these students a space to catch their breath, work on homework and get additional support for their individual needs.  It would also allow for the regular classroom teacher to get back to the rest of their students, giving them the attention they needed to learn without having to deal with a constant behavioral  disruption.  It was a win/win situation for students and teachers, but one that administration never even seriously considered.  Thus, when I thought about the funds used to pay for a public relations liaison when there were so many other avenues to spend money to improve education, I became nauseated.   Thankfully, I didn't let it ruin my evening.  Instead I felt even more grateful that our family had chosen to move away from public education as students, educators and coaches.  It was the best decision that we had ever made as a family.