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That would be great if your kids education were not being sacrificed so they could bear witness to the other kids. I am not willing to do that with my kids future.

About a month ago I posted the following to a thread, but the thread had few people read it, so ya probably haven't. So forgive my posting this here, but it is easier than retdescribing it all, and it is even MORE on topic here than it was there.
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Last year, I took my son to New Orleans. When we returned, during a conversation with his 6th grade teacher, I told her I had taken him on the Mississippi Queen riverboat, at which time she asked me "what river is that on?". I was stunned, and had to bite my tongue from yanking her chain by saying it was the Nile. During the same conversation, she asked me if my son noticed the difference there. I asked what she meant, and she said "You know, the blacks and whites bathrooms and water-fountains". This woman, who graduated from college about 3 yrs earlier thought they still had segregation in the south.

At this point, my confidence in our education system was getting pretty shaky, not that it was ever very high.

This year they do the federal reading testing, and all parents get letters saying that our school came out a few points low, I cannot remember the cutoff score. Anyway, the upshot was that since the school a few miles up the road had a higher score, well above the requirements, the parents whose kids scored below a certain level could enroll their kids at the better school next year. I guess the theory is that "We are doing you a favor by letting you move your kid, who has reading problems, up to a school which is doing a better job". The reality is much different. By moving a few kids from this school, to the "better" one, the scores for this school raise next year, the scores for the "better" school drops a couple points, but is still above the cutoff point. Next Year they can say "Look at the scores, we have improved.. now give us more money", when in fact they have improved nothing. All they HAVE done is played a numbers game, passed the problem kids off onto someone else, and added a half hour to the bus ride for the kids.

Recently I went and hung out in my son's class for a couple hours, just to observe how things happen there. the kids are sharing tables, about 5 kids to each table. There seemed to be no structure at all, and kids were basically wandering around from table to table. The teacher spent his whole time behind his desk with his nose in a book and feet on his desk.

This same teacher later told me "It is not my job to teach them. I give them their assignments, and they are supposed to work it out and I help them when they really get hung up".

At this point, I am on the verge of pulling my kid outta this school.

The following week, 2 weeks ago, my son came home upset because a teacher had told him he could not wear his necklace to school. It is not as if such are forbidden, other kids wear jewelry and such in his class, but his is a cross about one inch high with a little tag that says "forgiven".

I am aware I do not have to let them push him around on that last issue, but at this point, I figured this school was not worth it anyway, and my son is now enrolled in a private school.

BTW, last week, my son and I were in the store. A lady I did not know asked me "Is your son's name William?". I said yeah, and she says "I thought I recognized him... I sometimes teach at this school and at the one in Noel". When I mentioned that he did not go to school here, and she asked about it, and I told her where he goes to school now, she tells me HER kids go to a private, Christian based school too. What does it tell us when the public school teachers send THEIR kids to private schools?

Sacrificed? So would in your mind someone that has their children attending public school be commiting child abuse?

What does it tell us when the public school teachers send THEIR kids to private schools?

Historically, public school teachers send their children to private schools at twice the rate of the rest of the population.

"What does it tell us when the public school teachers send THEIR kids to private schools?"

It's TRUE!

The MAJORITY of public school teachers do NOT want and do NOT have their kids in a PUBLIC SCHOOL! It's a dirty little secret. It's good enough for YOUR kids but NOT their kids. They are there for the salary and benefits and of course tenure.

""What does it tell us when the public school teachers send THEIR kids to private schools?""

46% of MA public school teachers send their kids to private school. I too said, what does that tell you.