Conflicts of Interest

Some of you who read this blog have been asking if school is going any better.

It's not.

I avoid writing about it when I feel so conflicted as a parent and an educator.

It's not easy, as a teacher and a mom, to say: I think my son has had very poor teachers. To say: I am losing my faith in my state's public education. To say: I don't even feel welcome at my child's school, let alone know how to make it better. To say: As a teacher, I cannot afford the schools that might be "best" for my child. To say: I don't know how much longer I can make sense out of going to work at a wonderful school each day knowing I have to send my son to one that is mediocre and does not share our value system. To say: But I just can't imagine home schooling would be best for him, our family, or me.

Those are very difficult things to say.