Proclamations (Continued)

I've been known to make some proclamations, which end up evaporating. In 1994, after rebuilding our Hurricane Andrew destroyed house, and moving three times, I proclaimed that I would NEVER move again. Somehow, six years later, I fell in love with another place, and it was "so long, forever house."

I've repeatedly proclaimed my disdain for private schools, feeling that my kids needed to be exposed to the real world, ethnic and racial diversity, and all of that good stuff. In fact, I tend to look down on folks who send their kids to private schools, in a sort of reverse snobbery. When parents tell me how much they pay for private tuition, I thought to myself --what a waste There are perfectly good public schools if you live in the right neighborhoods, and your little angels will miss out on "real world" experience.

My opinion of private schools was only slightly above my opinion of home schooling, which, in my experience is the province of religious zealot nut jobs, afraid to have their kids learn about Darwin.

My proclamation held true for Daughter #1, and she ended up getting a decent education at her public high school, and getting into her first choice college. As Daughter #2 is half way through her sophomore year, however, another of my solid proclamations is on rather shaky ground.

The problem is that a new principal took over at her school 3 years ago, an old school NY liberal (yes, he's Jewish and from Brooklyn) and safety at the school has become an issue. About 15% of the school's students come from a very poor, Black part of the County, and, unfortunately, many of them bring trouble. There are fights 2 times per week, and the local police are at the school almost daily. Daughter #2 and her high achieving friends have gotten used to stepping around the fights among the "BPs," as they're called, like they'd step around a water leak.

Two weeks ago, three of the students from the school were arrested for being accessories to a car jacking that ended up killing an innocent passenger in a fiery wreck. Just last Friday a fight between Black and Latin boys ended when one fell and hit his head, had a seizure, and had to be airlifted to a hospital.

Wifey was at a PTA meeting, and the principal (a Ben Stein look alike, by the way) was asked about these conditions. He answered that "not all the students were from the wealthy neighborhood surrounding the school, and for some, violence was what they knew." In other words, typical and sickening liberal apologist speak.

The principal before him was a no nonsense tough lady. She dealt with the same demographic, but brokered no foolishness. If a kid fought, he was gone for good. She was promoted to the District, where she no longer has direct supervision over the school.

I emailed the principal about this issue, and he replied that he'd get back to me after the break. I emailed our local school board member, and she said she's heard there were problems, too, but she'd get the data and respond to me after the break, too. But, she mentioned, I should take solace in knowing that the School Board was breaking ground on a new high school designed to help with the overcrowding that was probably a causative factor of the violence. Ha! Daughter #2 and I can go by and see the new school probably about the time she graduates from college.

So --we've applied to the fancy private high school in the Grove, which probably IS the finest school in Florida. Daughter #2 is actually a bit excited about a change. Although she loves her friends and is doing well in the public school, the thought of true intellectual discussions in classes of 10 students or so is appealing to her.

The tuition is high, but as my law partner pointed out, we've allowed a friend who owes us a ton of money to delay repayment, and he's been sending HIS kid to private school (essentially on our dime), so should my kid get less?

As far as the benefits of public school diversity --who was I kidding? Daughter #2's school is essentially South Africa. The well off white kids are in the gifted and AP classes, the "BPs" are not. In all of her classes, there is exactly ONE Black student. At lunch, the races largely keep to themselves, with the exception of the sports teams.

It turns out there is more racial mixing at the private school --some children of Black professionals go there.

So, we'll see what happens. Daughter #2 takes an admission test next month, and will have an interview in February, and then we'll decide. Maybe the current school principal will grow some stones, or be replaced with the type of martinet a large public high school needs.

Regardless, this whole affair has taught me a lesson, again. My proclamations aren't worth the paper they're not written on.