One metric to measure my ire by -
Feb. 8th, 2012 01:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kyburgKid's school issues? Because the old school *required* us to come in for a conference during my working hours, and *because* they required me to remove my kid from their school less than a week later (with NO effort on their part as agreed in that conference, that's one of many reasons why I fired them) - I've then had to take more time away from work to deal with testing, etc.
The running total of how much it's cost us? See icon above.
Literally, it's more than the tuition was for January.
I should be grateful. If this had come down last summer, it would have cost me my job. No, no really. Because I changed jobs and the new gig starts later - I can swing the late starts and working from home for old gig - temporarily. All of this, very temporary. I am grateful. People are understanding. To a point.
Oh, they want him to stay, so bad. They've got a guest teacher from Japan in his classroom right now and she adores Xander. And if I don't miss my guess, he's got a crush on her. It's very cute.
But things are disappearing from his backpack (not big things, not things he's missing overmuch), every teaching tool is a photocopy and he's the only Asian kid in the class.
If it's racist to notice race, I'm racist. Put that aside and let's consider something. Old nasty school was VERY Asian...one of their pros on the list. When I think back on the harping we got on how we weren't strict enough with him...and the fact we were one of the few Anglo parent pairs I knew of (I think I saw one other and they were Jewish)...I can put that on the back burner and let it simmer, maybe even forget it. All I can think of it the discussion about 'why wouldn't he want to please us MORE if?' that went on in that conference. Race was never discussed, you can't - that's against the law to discriminate, yanno - but I have to wonder. We're not Asian parents.
New school has Asian kids. Public school is nearly 100% Latino, and in his class right now he's the only one of him there is. He's come home talking about race since he started there - they notice. (Positive, but. It's a change.) Everything is in English and Spanish - that's not bad by itself, but it's noticeable. I'm really not up for another completely new language by immersion for kid - he's already done one, right? At this point, it's more for the parents - and if the kids are speaking Spanish so he doesn't know what they're saying about him? This is not learning the language anymore, is it?
And all I have to do is remember what George Takei said about being the only Asian he knew growing up. And how many kids came forward with that when Star Trek conventions came around - having other people like you around? It matters. A lot. It's not something I use as a hard-and-fast criteria, this is why we're doing THIS vs. THAT for that reason...but I ignore it at my peril, my privilege would make it easy to blow this one. I never had the experience of being the only one of me in my classes at school - EVERYONE looked like me. (You were Catholic? You were WEIRD.)
We're always going to have that one extra cog working, versus the other kids. Trying like hell not to make it noticeable or weigh it too heavily, but it's there.
@#$%! It's not like money is growing on trees around here. Why yes, I'd love to do this or that? What? Oh. Sorry. Can't.
That...is said a lot around here, and that's often the reason. The good news is that now I'm pass my probation - and sick time is available again. Three more months and I can use vacation time too.
Let's just hope I don't run out of either for stupid ass reasons like this again.
The running total of how much it's cost us? See icon above.
Literally, it's more than the tuition was for January.
I should be grateful. If this had come down last summer, it would have cost me my job. No, no really. Because I changed jobs and the new gig starts later - I can swing the late starts and working from home for old gig - temporarily. All of this, very temporary. I am grateful. People are understanding. To a point.
Oh, they want him to stay, so bad. They've got a guest teacher from Japan in his classroom right now and she adores Xander. And if I don't miss my guess, he's got a crush on her. It's very cute.
But things are disappearing from his backpack (not big things, not things he's missing overmuch), every teaching tool is a photocopy and he's the only Asian kid in the class.
If it's racist to notice race, I'm racist. Put that aside and let's consider something. Old nasty school was VERY Asian...one of their pros on the list. When I think back on the harping we got on how we weren't strict enough with him...and the fact we were one of the few Anglo parent pairs I knew of (I think I saw one other and they were Jewish)...I can put that on the back burner and let it simmer, maybe even forget it. All I can think of it the discussion about 'why wouldn't he want to please us MORE if?' that went on in that conference. Race was never discussed, you can't - that's against the law to discriminate, yanno - but I have to wonder. We're not Asian parents.
New school has Asian kids. Public school is nearly 100% Latino, and in his class right now he's the only one of him there is. He's come home talking about race since he started there - they notice. (Positive, but. It's a change.) Everything is in English and Spanish - that's not bad by itself, but it's noticeable. I'm really not up for another completely new language by immersion for kid - he's already done one, right? At this point, it's more for the parents - and if the kids are speaking Spanish so he doesn't know what they're saying about him? This is not learning the language anymore, is it?
And all I have to do is remember what George Takei said about being the only Asian he knew growing up. And how many kids came forward with that when Star Trek conventions came around - having other people like you around? It matters. A lot. It's not something I use as a hard-and-fast criteria, this is why we're doing THIS vs. THAT for that reason...but I ignore it at my peril, my privilege would make it easy to blow this one. I never had the experience of being the only one of me in my classes at school - EVERYONE looked like me. (You were Catholic? You were WEIRD.)
We're always going to have that one extra cog working, versus the other kids. Trying like hell not to make it noticeable or weigh it too heavily, but it's there.
@#$%! It's not like money is growing on trees around here. Why yes, I'd love to do this or that? What? Oh. Sorry. Can't.
That...is said a lot around here, and that's often the reason. The good news is that now I'm pass my probation - and sick time is available again. Three more months and I can use vacation time too.
Let's just hope I don't run out of either for stupid ass reasons like this again.
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no subject
Date: 2012-02-08 10:43 pm (UTC)Been there, done that.
I also had the one benefit of having Asian parents.
I've also been "looked at funny" because I was not raised at any point in Taiwan. Or mainland China.
Which is why my cultural frame of reference is... skewed, shall we say.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-09 06:04 pm (UTC)it doesn't necessarily touch on the asian part... we are not in what i would call a racially diverse area, but most all the flavors are at least represented at her school.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-09 06:55 pm (UTC)Think $1,500 a month more expensive.
Swear, the 'family life' culture down here is something to behold.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-09 02:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-02-09 06:59 pm (UTC)There's a lot of good stuff going on over there - but between the early morning and summer break childcare needs...and the culture I'm finding over there, good or bad...we're going to try something else. Public school is not a bad fallback, but I think I'd even try to petition to go to school over the border in Torrance.