tell me what you think and win a free book from Scholastic!

Each month, I will draw from your posts and choose one winner who will receive a free children's book. (I'll have a dozen titles for you to choose from) Let me hear what you are thinking about your child's education! Is your school meeting your child's needs? Is your child happy? Struggling? Getting bullied? We want your stories!

Who's in charge of your child's education?

Forty years ago, the answer to that question was, "Your child's school." Slow kids rode a shorter bus to school and worked in the lunch room cafeteria for credit. No one argued that that was discriminatory. Everyone expected them to be tormented, after all, they talked and walked funny and were easy targets. Bullying? That word as unheard of as gigabyte. And we remember that boys with bad grades dropped out of school at 16 and joined the military or found a job with hands-on skills. And they did fine in life since there were so many jobs that required manual skills. School;s were okay with that. Girls who struggled in academics accepted the guidance counselor's advice of pursuing a career in the restaurant arena or factory work. Factories needed busy hands and didn't care if you could read. Parents trusted the school to know what was best for their child, given his ability or disability. Expecting more for your child was like wishing everyone could own a computer.

In 2010, the answer to that question is simple: It's YOU. One parent, both parents,guardians---it doesn't matter who is raising a child---it will be them who steers the child through a tangled, overly-mandated educational system in order for that child to have the positive experience and the education they deserve.

I'm not against our educational system or against public education. I'm pretty open minded these days and I think a person can even wear black and brown colors together, a taboo that has taken me awhile to get over. And, I do believe our educational system is like a huge dying dinosaur that is made to look good, or like it is visibly breathing, by using a few rickety bamboo poles to keep it propped up. It needs to change, and that change begins with you.
If your child is not getting the services they need, you should be making noise. If your child is years behind in a subject, you should be loud. The federal law states that if a child is not functioning on grade level, services should be offered. But money is tight. Teachers are often referees. Testing scores dictate what subjects a school focuses on.
If your child is bright but has a learning disability, he/she is for all intensive purposes, back on the short bus, that group that doesn't merit any new attention, remaining frustrated, doing too well to qualify fo services, working too hard to be happy.