Rants: The Business of Education sucks!!!

So, After getting charged at Ginger Bay Cafe – Local Caribbean restaurant / club here in Ft. Lauderdale – tonight it was Soca Thursday…yes, I am starting to feel the vibes for Miami Carnival, lawd ooonu ready? – My thought at 4.47 am centers around education. I am left with just one conclusion, the ‘business’ of education really sucks, especially here. Are you as a parent involved in your child’s progress in school? Yes! wicked. No! not good. Let’s just have the schools continue to raise the next generation of uninspired students. I believe some look at this as free baby sitters. I guess the schools have now become parents. What, y’all don’t think teachers have a life as well. Umm, maybe with the salaries they command…oh I’m sorry, given, we should just keep treating them as rented slaves. I didn’t grow up as a bad kid – with the whippings I got you would think differently – nor was I poor and certainly not rich by any stretch of the imagination. My mother though felt that it was incumbent of her to make sure that I was put in the right place and before the right people. The system of “It takes a village” was certainly in the forefront of her thoughts always. If she was not around, gosh darn it there would always be someone around who was going to pick up the slack for the almost 8 hours I sometimes had to be in school and not around her. I am totally convinced that she would have been a great educator if she had gotten those opportunities. I guess this is where I thumb my nose up at those who continue to say you should pull yourself up by your boot straps, change you economic circumstances…Looks like you’re digressing there chef, oh yeah, back to the education thing yeah. Mama knew the principal of my primary school so getting a note to see her meant a painful home-coming. She made sure I had what I needed because that’s what she could do. When I was blanked by algebraic madness and singing octaves of trigonometry in my sleep – nightmares – even with his educational background, Papa would lend a helping hand. Was a pisser though cause often times some of those assignments came up snake eyes. Wrong X, wrong X, wrong X, wrong X, Wrong X already!!! No, not putting him down because if he hadn’t cared he would not have taken the time to help.

For all you peeps who continue to make excuses, my dad came to every PTA meeting he could make it to and if he couldn’t make it mama was a shoe in. They took the bus, no car, no phone. Of course I would much rather papa go, you kidding me! If mama went and there was an inkling of disparity and disjunction in my scholarly progress..Hell an powda house mi tell you. Yep, they cared. So, have you been to a PTA lately? Have you thanked that teacher for trying to help using their own funds to make a difference? For spending a little extra time wid di likle tuff head pickney? I brought you the parent into the discussion simply because you are the first line of offense in terms of motivation as opposed to the defense most seem to raise against teachers who are simply trying to do their jobs. Lord help that poor teacher if she should have to fail a kid because of poor standards – did you read those six letters from the teacher, those 5 emails from the school, the dozen texts – for certainly there will be a parental uproar. With: Blackberry, Iphone, Androids, Ipads, Skype, emails, ATT, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, Boost, Metro PCS, calling cards, carrier pigeons, condense cans and strings, what excuses can you put forward to not be involved. I am not a parent myself but I salute those that make the effort to care and be involved. I am convinced It makes a difference. I just hope the kids recognize it for what it is and not smirk with disdain. Kudos MLN. With the brisk attention and coddling education gets (turns up his nose) – yes, I’m quite aware that there are some very good school districts – let’s face it, the business of education here wreaks to high heaven. The folks that run this business don’t really care about your kids like that, if so prove that to me. Sure we’re in a recessive period but Iet’s cut some more, and even more after that the programs that actually make sense. I’m sure we can find some of that lottery funding that has been entrusted to serve our education system well in the stockings this Christmas…What say you folks? Oh, BTW food on Fiyah baby!!!