I hear that a lot.
Public schools: godless moral wastelands.
Public schools: filled with pagan teachers just waiting to undermine “good” values. Or at the very least, teachers so burned out they no longer care.
Public schools: run by liberals who rewrite history, hate America, refuse to say the Pledge of Allegiance and send kids to detention for praying.
Over the last 12 years, my kids have attended a total of 7 public schools in 4 states.
We started the journey in Moderate Minnesota, where polite and cautious are the rule.
The next stop was the Liberal Utopia that is Madison, Wisconsin.
Then Alaska, equal parts Tea Party and Green Party, and all the fun that combination can bring.
Now we are living right in the big shiny rhinestone buckle of the Bible Belt, in the blood Red state of Oklahoma.
And in each and every one of these very different places, I have found the following:
Committed teachers.
Nearly all of them believing that if they can help just one kid learn to love learning, those long days of prep, wiping the snotty noses of first graders, listening to teenage freak outs over a broken heart will be worth it.
If they can be the person to help that kid whose mom is in jail and whose dad is gone break the cycle and go onto college, it will be worth it.
And I have seen administrators who greet every kid by name, administrators who, in between budget meetings and staff disputes, take the time to stop and talk to parents of a struggling kid, offering help and encouragement.
in every school, I have heard respect for our military, love for our country, freedom of religious expression (yes, folks, prayer).
And in every school, every school, every school, my kids have stood and recited the Pledge.
Entropy: blather from my disorderly mind. 