Public Schools

I was at Kaiser twice this past week for different routine things, at two facilities several miles apart. I bought a cup of tea in both places and was puzzled at first to see this heat shield (or whatever it's called) on my coffee cups.

FRONT VIEW

BACK VIEW

I wasn't shocked to see that the Elk Grove District is trying to herd students back into the fold. When we left the district to find a better school for Bob some 15 years ago I became aware of the large number of kids in our area who were going to private schools.

Bob ended up in San Juan district's homeschool high school a few years later because the Elk Grove district schools were not good options for him, and they discouraged homeschooling. Several of his friends soon joined him. Mostly they were tired of being pushed around and threatened, both on the extremely long bus ride from our area and at school itself. (I don't recall this was a problem for the girls.) The boys who left were not timid types (one now works at a prison), they just demanded a more civilized environment, and once they were free from the system they thrived.

The dumbest thing I ever heard at that time came from a teacher in the district whose own son was routinely being harassed and beaten on the bus. She said, "He needs to learn to live in the real world." What? How many of us, as adults, are routinely harassed and beaten at work? Not many, adults don't tolerate that sort of behavior.

One of our family friends is a teacher who was beaten by a high school student in Elk Grove district.

So there is reason for people to seek alternative ways to educate their children. But the Kaiser buildings I was in are not even located within the area served by Elk Grove district. So why are they advertising there?

It finally occurred to me. Parents take their kids there for emergency medical situations. So, if you're the mom of a high school student who has been injured at school, when you're sitting in the waiting room while your kid is getting stitched up, the district sees your child as a prime candidate for the Virtual Academy. They can keep the state allotment for your kid, whether or not he's physically attending their school. And they're even employing teachers who can't face the chaos, too.

Your education dollars at work.