I had to jump through some serious hoops to get my kid into a better middle-school than the one just down the street from our house; one with arts, music and sports programs, test scores averages that are respectable, and bathroom facilities that are actually in the same building as the classrooms.
(No I am not exaggerating.)
Our educational system in the US is broken, (just like all our other systems) of that, there’s no doubt.
But there are some severely varying degrees of ‘shittyness.’
Yeah, like I said, I think people in Ontario are a little infected by US cultural ideas about schools. The reality here is that while I’m sure there are some schools in need of some repairs, the quality of education you get from school to school is basically the same (obviously there are good and bad teachers everywhere). There are rankings of schools, but they are put together by a right-wing think tank, so why anyone listens to them is beyond me, and my own observations suggest that “higher ranked” highly correlates with “more white kids” without any evidence it correlates with something like “does better in university”.
Still, I know of one place where houses on one side of the street are $40k more than houses on the other side because one side is zoned for the “3rd best” school in the province and the other side is zoned for the “11th best” school in the province (of nearly 3000 schools, so the difference is undetectable). I know a lot of people who seem to want to get their kids into the best schools without even realizing that “best” just means “no black kids” according to the ranking system they use. (Which is actually on topic for Fuck Today whenever I think of it, but it’s more like Fuck Life or Fuck People)
Not where I live.
And I get your point about “best” being conflated with no black or brown people, in many places.
But again, that’s not so much the case in my personal district.
5 years ago, my daughter’s elementary school was on the chopping block due to budget cuts, but the PTA & community pulled together and saved it.
One of the main factors being that the school in question had (and still has) high rates of children of color performing better than average, as compared to their counterparts… especially where young African American males are concerned; it was determined that a significant number went on to and graduated from high school, with better than average test scores.
When it comes to education, particularly for historically disadvantaged people; every single little iota helps…
Remember that PIP form I filled in.
It was a form to get the real form to apply for PIP. 
I think that there is a room in the basement of the DWP HQ where they summon the spirit of Franz Kafka to come up with ideas to make it harder to apply for benefits.
A locked lavatory with a sign on the door saying beware of the leopard.
Yes, and I am being told our graduation is as crazy as our prom and so we will need to be bussed in due to the parking situation. Because we can’t be like other schools and issue tickets to limit the people who come.
Yeah, I think there is some truth in that here too.
That sounds like paradise.
Utopia, even.
Well, my understanding is that in a lot of places in the states systemic racism has made it so the schools with more black kids are genuinely worse schools due to funding cut after funding cut.
That’s part of it, a major part of it. I think that white people get upset and start to flee if they see they are going to be in the minority, too, white flight and all that. It’s seemingly happening here in the public school system. The local HS is blacker than it was a decade ago, and now you hear people talking about how it’s a “problematic” school, etc. One of my daughter’s classmates went to one of the other schools in the area (a “whiter” school) and kept having problems with some of the white kids apparently (he’s black), so his parents pulled him out and put him into my daughter’s small private school.
So it’s a white privilege issue from what I can see. I’m sort of agonizing, as my daughter has one more year of MS and she could continue to go to her current school, but it’s awfully small and I’d like her to have some experience with a larger school (more access to after school activities, more diversity, though that’s never been a problem at her school, really). But I’m also afraid she’ll get lost in the shuffle. She tends to the quiet a bit and I’m worried she wouldn’t make friends and be lonely. Now I’m showing my white privilege! 
Oh goody, my mother is definitely moving to Portland. Only 3 hours away. I was happier with 1000 miles between us.
Come to Canada!
Gay marriage, health care, and soon, legal pot!
On topic with the thread:
OMG one of my profs blocks out didn’t happen in scheduling and they put his class exactly when he cannot teach it! And we’re at 90% capacity so there are no more rooms… Hey, night classes are fun right? Ohwelltoobadsosad!
Yep, the grass is really greener on the other side of the border!
Can you get me a university position that pays well? If this becomes Trump America, we’ll seriously consider it!
When I took some summer classes my numerical methods class started at 10pm and I had some at least late morning classes as well. The good part was I was working 20hrs/week in the student computing lab so that took up a good hunk of the inbetween time.
I just want to live in a country that values accessible health care, the metric system, hardy winters, and maple-flavored everything.
So yeah, I’m in love with Canada. Also, I can speak French, albeit assez pauvre.
If everything goes to hell here, we should all get together and build a BB community north of the border. Boing-topia, or some such.
Well if I ever win lotto I can always use a …umm damn the kid is too old for a nanny anymore… private tutor? And it would be north of the 49th…
Are you on Long Island by chance?
