Spicy Dragons & Dinosaurs

The day outside is beautiful; I have to clean inside. Cleaning has been put off all week and because we are expecting weekend company, I cannot possibly excuse myself from the chores. Well, I could but I'd like myself to speed through the chores so that I could spend at least minutes or an hour in the dirt outside before driving to Milwaukee to pick up a friend I've never met.

Exciting.

I "met" Marianne in/at an online Findhorn group. (Check out the link if you want to learn more about the spiritual community in Scotland) I joined the email group in the early 90's and though members have come and gone, most of us have been together for more than 10 years. Our emails have fallen off in the last few years but occasionally there will be a flurry of communication and we catch up, write of problems and challenges. Our members are from all over the world, and I've met two -- one from England and the other from Ohio. Marianne is from Australia, and we will be meeting in person for the first time later this afternoon. She has made an awesome journey to North and South America over the last few weeks and it has been greet to virtually travel with her through her travel updates. I hope that she likes Wisconsin and our little family.

I feel rather sober today.

I mentioned a few days ago that I was seeing a situation unfold via email about money and our PTO. I have been able to "Watch" the current president handle the situation and I even was comfortable offering a few suggestions which were on the conservative side, but truth be told, the conservative and even moderate view point are just not mine. The thought that remains as the controversy winds down is that I want to move the organization into liberalism! I am confused as to the aim and purpose of PTO. We raise money and give it out, but to who and under what circumstances? PTO appears to provide funds for as many things as possible that enhance the school like of the entire school community. That being said, the funds that get channeled into the Parent Empowerment Groups which touch non-caucasian children and their families are funds going to exclusive groups. The problem that has arisen could be framed as how exclusive can a group be and still get funding? When I brought my grant to the PTO, I did not think of the playgroup as an exclusive group. To me, it was no different than providing money for one classroom teacher to buy books, or for the lego league to buy more supplies. The number of kids touched by these grants was larger than my playgroup but also exclusive.

It strikes me that I am not sure if the comparison of the playgroup to the recent request by another group for funds is because of the number of kids involved (which some of the voting members seem to be focused on) or the way we originally got our grant (which was slightly out of the normal grant process, but the extra-normal process we went through -- providing more information and more planning before we were voted on -- was at the request of the Executive Council that recommends the grants).

There is talk of line drawing. There is talk about case by case decisionmaking. There is talk of following bylaws and then about the use of custom. Why is the politics of the group only revealing itself now? I have been at almost every meeting for two years, every meeting this year. I recognized politics before but not what is going on now. And, smiling rather ryly, I am surprised to hear my playgroup discussed as something that is out of the ordinary when I so thought it was part of the mainstream. Oh, am I so out of the mainstrean? And then, what am I doing as the new president?

The other subject of sober thoughts is of something that I should not have read.

I usually stuff the Friday folders that Julia's class takes home each week. Class newsletters, PTO news, snack reminders, and sometimes questionnaires and surveys. Recently, a questionaire went home asking parents for information to help teachers and administrators make decisions about class placement for next year. I think I stuffed those two weeks ago, and when I was stuffing folders this week, I found a few that were filled in and returned but not taken out of the folders. I could not resist the temptation to read what I found although I knew it was not at all my place to do so.

Most were as expected, praising Christy's work and saying very nice things about the class, but one opened my eyes wide. This was from parents who felt that their child was not stimulated enough and did not receive homework which the parents felt was very important in Kindergarten. Mostly the parents were disppointed because the child was placed in a classroom with disabled kids who took most of the teachers time. The parents perceived the their son could have made much more progress if he had been in a class without disabled kids which is what they would like for next year.

This felt awful. It hurt to think that my child was thought to be a detriment to the learning of another child. Of course, the Madison schools have a policy of total inclusion which everyone in this liberal town is quite proud of, so the opinion cut deep. Then again, I know this kid. I've worked with this kid and help the kid work. I don't see this kid as that extraordinary--cute but not overly interested in school work and not eager to share some hidden learned skills. I've worked with this kid during writers' workshop and the work is very ordinary. To the extent that the parents are constantly working with this kid at home, I see no results.

Also, what these parents fail to see is that Christy's class is smaller than usual and there are many more adults in the classroom much of the time. These aids and specialists serve more than those needing accomodation. I see this kid as enjoying the privileges and services that kids with challenges have gotten.

Next term, I hope to get more peers to work in our plaggroup. Others have told me that it is difficult to get peers to join us. Will that be possible?