An Interesting Choice

I intially made my choice to switch my child to the one of two choices I was given for my child under the no child left behind plan based on the repuatation of the host school that I would later house the annexx of this no child left behind school.  I had initiallly called the principal of the school and told her that I had read about the great things she had done for the school she was at, and I was extremely impressed by the positive messages on the school’s website.  She called me back and thanked me but told me that she would not be my child’s prinicpal and wished me well.  I think I can honestly say that at the time I did not understand the depth that she would not be his principal but said OK and we finished the conversation. 

I would soon learn that my child would be annexed into an empty part of the building in the larger school.  I immediately recognized this as a divisive dicriminatory practice designed to seperate the no child left behind children from the general population of the other school because it is and was assumed that children who come from failing schools are impoverished and undesirables. Though since I am pretty familiar with the area, I was aware that the range of homes in the schools that failed AYP ranged from about 105,000 to 800,000 dollar homes.  In any event beingeing from the South I recognized the annex  tactic as a particulary southern ruse of seperatism.  While historically whites are known for seperatissm in the south, blacks know the practice very well  in the south.  This Annexx was Dekalb Counties version of seperate but equal in our so called modernized society.  As an African American I always find it amazing that black’s whoop and holler for rights and then turn around and participate in the same behaviour that they don’t want to expereince.  Rosa Parks did not want to sit in the back of the bus and many blacks fought so that blacks and whites could eat at teh same lunch counters, use the same bathrooms and have the same educational and emplyment oppurtunities.  Finally here was a group of black educational leaders creating the practice in a definite seperate but unequal fashion.

Open House at the No Child Left Behind School

The Day had come when I would go and visit the “no child left behind school” I arrived at the school facility that would house the school within a school and I honestly have to say that I was really impressed with the overall building presentation. The school was clean throughout the whole building, the gym was just gorgeous and as the daughter of a former teacher who watched my mother toil over boards year in and year out until she eventually became known as the board queen. The boards in the school were just awesome.

There were a few glitches that were a little disconcerting, as I moved towards the office for more information, I was told that my child’s school office was around the corner which literally turned out to be some sort of resource room. It looked like my child’s school office was at one point the computer room. I met the vice principal of the school who turned out to be a wigger, a white woman who has adopted the black culture as her own and is white in appearance only. I was a little taken about by this because wiggers are sometimes stereotyped as being willing to do anything for a black man or black men. My thought flashed back to the jim crowe setup of the school and I seriously wondered if this woman would be a tool to try to knock down the no child left behind law through our children by making them fail for some black man’s relief. It did not help that she is known as the expulsion queen of DeKalb County. In any event she seemed intelligent and concerned and determined to do positive things as it related to the children and I honestly think that she’s working towards helping the children to achieve and if it had not been for one teacher who I really believe she herself is trying to be the principal of the school in an underhanded way I probably would not have ever posted this blog, or written about any of any of this, I would have kept my thoughts to myself.

I met the teachers and they seemed nice, looked intelligent and ready to teach. I was ready for this experiment and from what I initially saw thought that it could go well. In the beginning for the most part it did go well until the school started to mess with my son’s schedule and the teachers I met ended up not being his teachers but ended up being another team and this is where the strangeness of no child left behind came in, in terms of intent.

Welcome!

I started this blog today because I can honestly say that I have no place to turn or no place to turn regarding the educational situation of my child.  I live in a county where the dropout rate for our children is 50%.  I am a member of the African American Race where our drop out rate is 50%.  After entering my child in middle school I have begun to realize that the problems our children face black, white, yellow, green and otherwise is because of a system that has betrayed our children and leaves our most precious resources to many people who are just working for a check and will coordinate their efforts to work against parents, children, and society so they can protect their way of life.  I am fed up afraid and literally have no place to turn hopefully as I write I will find individuals to connect with regarding the dismal failure of our educational system.  I am in DeKalb County Georgia and I can honestly say that since Georgia is at the bottom of the list as it ranks for quality of schools, I honestly hope that the situation that I find myself in is an absolute exception to the rule and not the rule.  Thank you for reading and I will now begin to record my experiences as a parent in DeKalb County Georgia, a parent of a no child left behind middle school student and as a totally disappointed and disgruntled human being as it relates to my child’s education.  I welcome comments, and suggestions and thank you in advance for them.