First Day Back at School Ain't What it Used to be

Or is it just me.

I remember from Grade One on (no Kindergarten in the UK), we did an hour or so the first day and then BLAM it was right into full days and that was it.

There was no 'Gradual Entry' for the 5 year olds.  There was no 'wait till we see how many students we have' to set up classrooms.

I keep wondering why schools seem to have a harder time with setting up classrooms now than they did when I was kid!?

What has changed.  Kids come and go.  New students show up.  Old students leave.  Budgets had to be met back then too right?

So why has my son told me that on Monday - a week after school started - that he still will not have a classroom or a teacher assigned to himself and his fellow Grade Two's?

Last year, we were taken by surprise when they split Adam's new Grade One class in half and left HIS half with the new Kindergartner's and the teacher that I disliked.

I was not impressed.  

A lot of parents were furious at the lack of communication we did NOT receive from the school about the low enrollment and the cuts this would cause.  Some pulled their kids from the school entirely.

They seem to have not learned from this.  Apart from mentioning the even LOWER enrollment this year in the happy 'Welcome Back' newsletter.

We have had no information about their progress in setting up the classes this year.  Any information has been from my seven year old son.  Highly accurate I am sure.

Our schools in BC have been hit hard by a crushing deficit and the cuts that this has caused.

But is that the real issue here?

The Vancouver School Board is looking at a $15 to $30 million for next year.  This will mean more staff and service cuts in the schools.

This is what our school is no doubt waiting to deal with.  

But it would be nice if they could include us in their communications.  They are all running around looked stressed and we just show up with our kids each day and see what THAT day will bring.

I hate that the teachers and the students are all unsettled at the beginning of the school year....I see it as time spent educating our kids being eaten away by politics.

I hate that our government has such lack of respect for education.

I hate that our school boards and teachers can't work in these situations.

I want to send my children to school with confidence.  Not frustration and irritation.

Now I can see why they stress home reading and summer reading programs with such fervor.   More and more the education of our children IS up to us.  Far more than what the teachers can accomplish.

This year apparently enrollment at private schools is booming.  I wonder also what the numbers are like for new homeschoolers.

We live in a family oriented neighbourhood.  Where are all the kids going to school?  Certainly not at the local community one.  Not with continual lowering numbers of students registering.

I wonder if the high school faced the same situation this year.

If we could afford private, we would go that route.  Which is sad.  

I am so tired of listening to our politic-ans go on and on about how great BC and how they are working for us and our future blah blah blah.

All we REALLY see is greed.  Greed about the Olympics and greed over real estate and image.

The people who VOTED for these losers are getting kicked in the teeth, taxed to death, and watching our way of life be nickel and dimed away.

It is time we all starting fighting back.

----

Original Canada Moms Blog post, Kerry also writes at Crunchy Carpets.