Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2019 17:47:56 GMT -5
The parents wanted an aide added to the class, salary 30k/year. The PTA backed it up and raised that money; guess what the school did ? Since the PTA raised 30k, they slashed the funding by 30k. Money for the aide gone just like that. So the PTA and angry parents the following year had to brainstorm and find a loophole around it; if I remember correctly find a legal way to bypass the school and for them not to be obligated to report the money/give the money to the school and pay that person directly. Why? Why go through so much headache when the parents were the ones year after year going through the trouble to raise that money? And that was the issue with everything... need new instrument for music program? Raise 10k... school slash funding to music department by 10k. WTF!!! Everything turned into a huge political fight between the school board/ admin/dean and PTA. That's just rotten. The school district my son was in set up a 501(c)3 Educational Foundation. Parents were able to make direct donations or have fund-raisers to benefit the foundation and the money was used for extras. There was some grumbling but I don't think it affected what they got from the state. And I agree with your later statement about parental involvement. My son's private school was a boarding school over an hour away so I wasn't there a lot, but I think it made a huge difference that the kids were there because their parents cared enough to get them out of a public school system that wasn't working for them. There were no apathetic parents.
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TheHaitian
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Post by TheHaitian on Apr 11, 2019 18:10:02 GMT -5
The school district my son was in set up a 501(c)3 Educational Foundation. Parents were able to make direct donations or have fund-raisers to benefit the foundation and the money was used for extras. There was some grumbling but I don't think it affected what they got from the state. I think that is what they did also after the first couple of times it happened.
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cronewitch
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Post by cronewitch on Apr 11, 2019 19:20:34 GMT -5
Our public schools are good for the most part. But they aren't the same as in the 50s when I was young. We had baby boomer sized classes like 36 per room. Special needs kids weren't in our classes at all ever. Most of us were average between D-B students, no AP classes. We didn't have ADHD for example just kids who didn't pay attention and day dreamer. many would be diagnosed now but we were merely weird. Now classes are smaller and special kids mainstreamed or special ed in the same school. My great niece goes to public school and has had extra help all the time. Main streamed until middle school then special ed, now after she is still in school studying life skills until she is 21. Good for her, they got her two jobs and teaching her to ride the bus and other useful things. She loves her jobs, food services in elementary school, sometimes they let her serve the food. Her second job is in daycare, she can get on the floor and play with the kids and sometimes they hug her. Kids like her with learning plans, extra coaching and therapies are expensive. If you have a higher percentage of special needs kids the cost per child goes up. Also the homeless kids now have expensive rights. If a child is homeless like living in transitional housing or with grandparents they have the right to stay in the same school even if they move. Our schools must provide transportation even if that means a long taxi ride twice a day. One local town has a high immigrant population so many languages meaning the kids are English language learners making them harder to educate.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2019 9:22:58 GMT -5
I've decided some people just like to bitch. The conversation has now shifted to the company he co-founded and how he's "making billions on the backs of people making minimum wage". Yeah. I know that's BS. I seriously doubt anyone there makes minimum wage and many, many people have become very wealthy because of him. I worked there while going to college and they were great for college students letting them set whatever hours that worked with their schedule.
It's awesome that someone can build a company that supports 20,000+ people and their families, donate 10's of millions into improving our community over the years and people complain. Go start your own damn company then.
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Wisconsin Beth
Distinguished Associate
No, we don't walk away. But when we're holding on to something precious, we run.
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Post by Wisconsin Beth on Apr 12, 2019 10:04:32 GMT -5
The school district my son was in set up a 501(c)3 Educational Foundation. Parents were able to make direct donations or have fund-raisers to benefit the foundation and the money was used for extras. There was some grumbling but I don't think it affected what they got from the state. I think that is what they did also after the first couple of times it happened. Yes, the Foundation does the majority of the fund raising for extras. The PTA does the "normal" fundraisers (coffee sales, the Fun Run in spring are the 2 that I remember) but the Auction Dinner and the Welcome Back to School Beer tasting are sponsored by the Foundation.
The Foundation pays for the Interns. Because we're a foreign language immersion school, we want interns who grew up speaking German around the kids. At least that's the theory they push towards the parents. We're a public school but because of the immersion part, we get to do things a bit differently. But certain things, like salary and benefits, must be paid by the City. We can only do so much with interns, structural issues and supplies/computer labs/etc. without running afoul of the City.
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TheHaitian
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Post by TheHaitian on Apr 12, 2019 10:30:07 GMT -5
I think that is what they did also after the first couple of times it happened. Yes, the Foundation does the majority of the fund raising for extras. The PTA does the "normal" fundraisers (coffee sales, the Fun Run in spring are the 2 that I remember) but the Auction Dinner and the Welcome Back to School Beer tasting are sponsored by the Foundation.
The Foundation pays for the Interns. Because we're a foreign language immersion school, we want interns who grew up speaking German around the kids. At least that's the theory they push towards the parents. We're a public school but because of the immersion part, we get to do things a bit differently. But certain things, like salary and benefits, must be paid by the City. We can only do so much with interns, structural issues and supplies/computer labs/etc. without running afoul of the City.
How do you like the immersion school? My wife would like for my daughter to attend an French immersion charter school and also get her French Baccalaureate (we are both French speakers). I am “partial” to it and understand her reasoning; but just don’t feel as strongly about it as she does : my brother and sister did not go to a French immersion school and both speech fluent Creole and French with no trace of accent. My mom have a strong belief of you speak your maternal tongue at home (creole and French) and church; you speak English everywhere else. She is still highly pissed at me that my daughter does not speak fluent creole and French but we will introduce it slowly. My wife was concerned that speaking more than 1 language to her might confuse her and create speech issues. We are slowly entering French and creole words into her vocabulary and she is taking it up well.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2019 10:40:38 GMT -5
Yes, the Foundation does the majority of the fund raising for extras. The PTA does the "normal" fundraisers (coffee sales, the Fun Run in spring are the 2 that I remember) but the Auction Dinner and the Welcome Back to School Beer tasting are sponsored by the Foundation.
The Foundation pays for the Interns. Because we're a foreign language immersion school, we want interns who grew up speaking German around the kids. At least that's the theory they push towards the parents. We're a public school but because of the immersion part, we get to do things a bit differently. But certain things, like salary and benefits, must be paid by the City. We can only do so much with interns, structural issues and supplies/computer labs/etc. without running afoul of the City.
How do you like the immersion school? My wife would like for my daughter to attend an French immersion charter school and also get her French Baccalaureate (we are both French speakers). I am “partial” to it and understand her reasoning; but just don’t feel as strongly about it as she does : my brother and sister did not go to a French immersion school and both speech fluent Creole and French with no trace of accent. My mom have a strong belief of you speak your maternal tongue at home (creole and French) and church; you speak English everywhere else. She is still highly pissed at me that my daughter does not speak fluent creole and French but we will introduce it slowly. My wife was concerned that speaking more than 1 language to her might confuse her and create speech issues. We are slowly entering French and creole words into her vocabulary and she is taking it up well. I think it's the opposite actually, that learning a second language is more difficult and causes more problems later. You're prewired to learn language(s) when you're very young, then it becomes harder.
My older son's brother and sister are half Chinese. They speak Mandarin as fluently as English at ages 4 and 6 and I don't notice any issues speaking to them at all. His sister is very verbal and will talk your ear off in perfect English, then will turn around and do the same to her Mom in Mandarin.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Apr 12, 2019 11:17:25 GMT -5
I learned 2 languages at the same time. It limits your vocabulary in each language. There were studies, I've shared links to them here in the past. I think Carl's daughter is safe to learn a second language now, and young enough to learn it extremely well.
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Lizard Queen
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Post by Lizard Queen on Apr 12, 2019 11:31:21 GMT -5
It's weird to read that the private Catholic school is doing so well. Ours has been dying a slow death over the decades. It was getting smaller when I attended back in the 80's. We have lots of charter schools to choose from, which seem to hurt all the existing schools. A new Montessori charter opened up and the old private tuition one closed. There is also school choice available, and my public school benefits by that greatly, as it has a much better reputation than the other schools nearby.
My kids utilize in-district school of choice, which means they go to a different elementary school than the one nearest our home. It had a better reputation, and was closer to their sitter back when the oldest started elementary. Now they have lots of friends there, so they stay. It's only 3.5 miles from home, though the local one is about 2/3 of a mile from home.
I do like the idea of having choices, but it's hard to support so many different choices funding-wise. Because of my own experience at the local Catholic school, I'd never choose that one for my kids, but I also support having those choices available. As far as infusing so much money into a private school, I think it can become a slippery slope. What is the goal there, I wonder. When I dream of winning a huge lottery jackpot, in my musings I realize the power and responsibility that sharing that money gives me.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2019 11:52:21 GMT -5
It's weird to read that the private Catholic school is doing so well. Ours has been dying a slow death over the decades. It was getting smaller when I attended back in the 80's. We have lots of charter schools to choose from, which seem to hurt all the existing schools. A new Montessori charter opened up and the old private tuition one closed. There is also school choice available, and my public school benefits by that greatly, as it has a much better reputation than the other schools nearby. My kids utilize in-district school of choice, which means they go to a different elementary school than the one nearest our home. It had a better reputation, and was closer to their sitter back when the oldest started elementary. Now they have lots of friends there, so they stay. It's only 3.5 miles from home, though the local one is about 2/3 of a mile from home. I do like the idea of having choices, but it's hard to support so many different choices funding-wise. Because of my own experience at the local Catholic school, I'd never choose that one for my kids, but I also support having those choices available. As far as infusing so much money into a private school, I think it can become a slippery slope. What is the goal there, I wonder. When I dream of winning a huge lottery jackpot, in my musings I realize the power and responsibility that sharing that money gives me. It's a gift from alumni. According to the article, they are overwhelmed with generosity for what the school has given them and their families and they want to give back. This isn't new, they get a lot of huge gifts. The college campus they are on was also a gift from another past student. I've been right next to the guy when he asked how much to fix the roof to the theater and then cut a check for 50K and said "just replace it". It's been going on for a long time. The "goal" of the new building is to make the school more attractive to international students, where the big money is. It's also a boarding school and enrollment has been on the decline the past couple years due to it being so hard to get visas now and fear of travel bans stranding kids. They get a lot of money from the boarding students as tuition is something like 30K/year for them.
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Wisconsin Beth
Distinguished Associate
No, we don't walk away. But when we're holding on to something precious, we run.
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Post by Wisconsin Beth on Apr 12, 2019 11:52:38 GMT -5
Yes, the Foundation does the majority of the fund raising for extras. The PTA does the "normal" fundraisers (coffee sales, the Fun Run in spring are the 2 that I remember) but the Auction Dinner and the Welcome Back to School Beer tasting are sponsored by the Foundation.
The Foundation pays for the Interns. Because we're a foreign language immersion school, we want interns who grew up speaking German around the kids. At least that's the theory they push towards the parents. We're a public school but because of the immersion part, we get to do things a bit differently. But certain things, like salary and benefits, must be paid by the City. We can only do so much with interns, structural issues and supplies/computer labs/etc. without running afoul of the City.
How do you like the immersion school? My wife would like for my daughter to attend an French immersion charter school and also get her French Baccalaureate (we are both French speakers). I am “partial” to it and understand her reasoning; but just don’t feel as strongly about it as she does : my brother and sister did not go to a French immersion school and both speech fluent Creole and French with no trace of accent. My mom have a strong belief of you speak your maternal tongue at home (creole and French) and church; you speak English everywhere else. She is still highly pissed at me that my daughter does not speak fluent creole and French but we will introduce it slowly. My wife was concerned that speaking more than 1 language to her might confuse her and create speech issues. We are slowly entering French and creole words into her vocabulary and she is taking it up well. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into when our DD started there in K4. We like it. And it's awesome for the kids. About 75% of their day is in German. It's higher in the lower grades because they don't teach reading in English and English spelling until 2nd grade. And you have to test into the school after 2nd grade so while kids leave, they really don't get more kids enrolled. A decent amount of the families have multiple kids in the school and/or a parent who speaks German. The standard advice is have 1 parent speak nothing but German and the other parent speak nothing but English. So if your Mom wants to speak nothing but Creole and French to your DD, she'll adapt just fine.
I'm really lucky that it's a public school. We also have public French Immersion, Spanish Immersion, Mandarin Immersion, and Italian Immersion started up a couple years ago. My DD is moving to Middle School (6-8th grades) in fall. It's a combined school where the Immersion schools feed into it. So her homeroom will be a mixture of kids from the other schools. She'll have 3-4 classes purely in German with the kids from her current school. And she gets 2 electives. She chose Art and Computers but her backup elective class is Japanese. The other electives are Music/Band ones and she's just not interested.
She wants a private girls high school. It's a damn good school but costs $13K a year. There is aid and the literature says most families pay around $7K. And the girls get a shitload of scholarships to college. I went there. My sisters and a bunch of my cousins went there.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Apr 14, 2019 6:28:10 GMT -5
My girlfriend who taught K told me when DD was in K, so 25 years ago that soon all that will be in public schools are students with disabilities and ESOL students. I was a product of public school as were my kids but now even the school I taught at and my kids went to, one of the premier schools, isn’t where I’d want my kids to go. Breaks my heart.
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