A Public Salute

I'm a product of the public school system...or, mostly, anyway. I did attend a private school from K-5, but I transferred to public after that. So, in the ledger of my formative years, I count the largest number in the public column. I went to traditional state universities for both my undergraduate and post-grad degrees, and I'm better for it. I got a great education and learned that school, while fundamentally about the curriculum of learning, is also about far more...like how to resolve conflict, stand for what I believe, express my discontentment, say, "I don't know" and "I don't understand" (two keys to life, I'm quick to add), and learn the real-life differences between love and lust, speaking your mind and biting your tongue, and saying you're a friend versus actually acting like one.

Now our children are in public school and, roughly 15 years since we last left it, the quality of the system has remarkably improved. And vastly eroded. I know many parents making the switch to private, atypical, or untraditional modes of education: and I think that's dandy. Like most other products of a postmodern generation, I say do what's best for you and yours. But I won't stand for slamming the public school system - especially if you ain't in it. Despite what critics may need to believe, kids aren't necessarily getting poorer educations if they go to public and, let me remind you, kids aren't necessarily getting better ones if they attend private. Schools, like people, are a varied box of chocolates where your favorites depend entirely on your experience of trying them and finding what you like.

Grace doesn't even test on the charts of literacy, math, and science. I don't say this to boast; I say it to make a point. And here it is: God made Grace smart. He took my genes and Craig's genes, and they spliced together quite nicely, I think. But it's Grace who does the work to get smarter: she reads, she studies, she asks questions about her world, the people in it, and how she can impact it. And it's Grace's teachers...all 5 of them, thus far, who have stimulated, cultivated, shaped, and generally spurred on her smarts. We don't take credit for it, we just say "thank you" for it.

Now, as Elijah has entered the system, we're adapting to cultivating an entirely different person than his sister: if you're a parent, you know this is necessary because, despite misconceptions about offspring, they're not all the same...I don't care who's raisin' 'em. So we get to see how he, too, is flourishing in a public school. And hats off to parents who recognize that different children have different needs and so may have multiple children in multiple school settings and refrain from scorning any one system.

So, what's my ultimate point here? Well, it's twofold: first, I want to recognize the "public" teachers who have touched my children's hearts and minds. Amy Amsden, Jamie Minette, Angie Kelley, Kate Motley, Heidi McClure, and Julie Nealy...you're the cream of my crop, literally. You have planted seeds in the field of my precious harvest - my children. And I won't soon forget you and your contribution. I plan to continue telling my children that superb quality doesn't have to come in expensive or elite school packaging - you're a testament to that truth.

Which leads to my second point: don't slam public school. It's an option that for our family, and many others like us, has proved to be a blessing beyond measure - and one I wouldn't trade. Please remember that our history was founded on a public system, on the belief that no child is more important than another whether yours wears a uniform to school or mine wears blue jeans. We're all trying to do what's right for our families and best for our world and teaching, no matter where you do it, is a hard, hard line of work.

So remember the teachers, public or private or otherwise, who have touched and are touching your lives and the lives of your children. We serve and bless ours for all their commitment to leaving a legacy of learning.

I thank you.

And my children thank you, too.

Grace's 2nd grade teacher,

          Mrs. Motley.

Grace's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Minette.