The Wake County Board of Education allows public comment on issues of concern. This is my 3 minutes.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Your children. Not mine.

Last week, WCPSS Chairwoman Christine Kushner wrote an article for UNC-Chapel Hill's Morehead-Cain Scholars website. (Yeah, that's a mouthful in itself.)Her article is titled "The real crisis in public education, and how to fix it".First of all, "The real crisis"? High and mighty much?Anyway... I wrote a Letter to the Editor to the News & Observer in response to Ms. Kushner's ridiculous and insulting claim that it is the parents of Wake County that cause her and our school system such heartburn.As it hasn't been published (yet), I thought I would share it with you here. Enjoy.

Submitted Nov. 7, 2015:

WCPSS Chair Christine Kushner has proudly announced that it is the parents of Wake County who are hurting the public school system. Yes, you. And me. And every other caring parent who has chosen to stay with
the public school system yet stands up for their child. According to our
School Board, you are a horrible person and simply messing things up.
Kushner condescendingly claims in the article that "individual choice"
is the real crisis in our schools. She berates and belittles parents for
basically being good parents. She hates parents who make decisions that
best serve their own children without considering the "common good".
Hates them.
So, it is a little surprising to find out that Ms. Kushner chose to send
her child to one of the most exclusive publicly-funded high schools in
NC. That's right. She made an "individual choice" for her child's
education. A choice that was made, I would assume, based on what was
best her family and her child - because I don't see how sending her
child to a limited enrollment high school with a highly competitive
admission process that is fully funded by the state (including tuition,
room and board) helps the rest of us.
Apparently, the common good is your problem to solve...with your children
- not hers.