My Two-Cent's Worth

I love public schools. I am a product of public schools, my children are products of public schools, and my grandchildren are in public schools. Even amidst the budget crunch, so very much is right with our public schools--there's a whole lot of good there! When I came back to teaching, after taking 17 years off to raise my children, I was teaching in a private school. Small class sizes? Yes. Involved parents? Yes. But I wasn't happy there. Something was lacking. After two years I wanted to be back in the public schools, and was thankfully hired by Bruce Farrer at Rocky Mountain Elementary to teach 4th grade. I was amazed at what I found and wanted to shout to the world, "Our public schools work! They could teach a thing or two to the local private schools!!" The curriculum content was the same (as directed by the state), but "best practices" were in place for teaching that content (my learning curve was STEEP for those first few years), the children were happy, the faculty was professional and collaborative and everyone wanted me to succeed, which ultimately helped the students succeed. I've taught at several schools, and it's been the same in each one.

So in our current economic state, teachers will be required to do more with less. And they'll get it done. And your children will thrive. Principals are asked to make the impossible work, and they do, while striving to maintain a good morale among the faculty and staff. The dedication of those who work with your children during the day is heartening, and should leave you encouraged about the future of your child's education.

Thank you for your involvement and help in my classrooms. Would my little struggling readers' DRA scores have improved as much without the help of my many Paired Reading moms? Definitely not. (In addition, your anecdotal notes have been invaluable in helping me plan for these students.) And Monday folders. Preparing 44 of them takes more time than you would expect, but again, thanks to a volunteer mom, I can use that time in preparing for the day's lessons. Not to mention the many of you who have helped with parties, field trips, and who have come in as a Mystery Reader. Children LOVE to see their parents at school, and your involvement sends a powerful message to them that school is important. Please continue to volunteer to help your child's classroom teacher and school. During this economic crunch, it will be ever so important to the success of your child and to the success of our schools.

I'll step off of my soapbox now...