Does anyone know anything about A H Parker High School? (Birmingham: live in, children)

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by bluebeard

ahh, yes. 3X the tuition would be a lot. I know one person with a single kid where the math worked out for the private school option better.

Exactly. Two would have made it a little more expensive to stay where we were, but manageable. But our third was just the backbreaker, financially speaking.

[bluebeard]

Another story on the Parker principal
Parker High School principal ordered by Birmingham school superintendent to vacate office immediately | al.com

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by bluebeard

Another story on the Parker principal
Parker High School principal ordered by Birmingham school superintendent to vacate office immediately | al.com

Yeah, I've been tracking that story, too. Essentially, what you have here is the triumph of the bureaucratic mentality. You hear about teachers getting laid off all the time. But administrators are pretty much sacrosanct.

[pennquaker09]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

You know, as somebody who has actually walked the walk by living in Forest Park and actually took a good long look at enrolling my children in a Birmingham City school, I think this is total, offensive baloney. I mean, you didn't actually attend a Birmingham City school did you? Didn't you attend something like Indian Springs?

Look, I know you don't have kids and all, but there's an enormous amount of difference between the condescending ivory tower nonsense you just blurted out and actually having one's own children serve as the guinea pigs for those lofty ideals. Hey, when it's your own kids on the line, I'll listen.

Anybody know knows anything about Birmingham city schools knows that the education is substandard for a reason: the non-existent commitment of the parents, the corrupt nature of city politics, and the need to teach to the lowest common denominator. I don't really need to apologize for not wanting to stick my children in the same classes as kids from utterly dysfunctional households, and I have too much on my plate to swim against the tide. I can't make people do a better job of raising their own kids and I sure as hell am not going to allow my children's education to suffer as a result. What's more the exodus, what some snidely call White Flight, is actually become a very diverse phenomenon. A lot of middle class blacks have thrown up their hands as well and hied themselves to Hoover or Pelham.

As a result, I ponied up for private schools for quite a long time, while living in the city limits of Birmingham, as did both of my black neighbors. And, we sent them to a rather diverse school to boot. Sure, we finally moved to Mountain Brook, but that was an economic decision, given how the least we didn't want to pay for a private high school was around $10,000 per child per year.

So before you offer up opinions like that again, I suggest you actually understand where parents are coming from when they make these decisions.

I have twins actually.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by pennquaker09

I have twins actually.

So? Are you sticking them in an inner city school where test scores are rock bottom?

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by pennquaker09

I have twins actually.

So? Are you sticking them in an inner city school where test scores are rock bottom? Did your parents do that with you?

[pennquaker09]

To be perfectly honest, I have no idea where my kids will be attending school. My SO prefers private school, and I prefer public. However, I don't want them to attend school here in Tenafly because there is no diversity.

I suppose the closest inner city school to us would be in one of the boroughs of NYC, but the schools in the city are numerous and so spread out that I think most of them tend to be perfectly average. And I can admit that if we lived in the city, I wouldn't have an issue with that because I know I can supplement anything they're missing at home. I have a M.Ed. in science and mathematics education, I'm fluent in German, and I can even teach them Latin. My SO is a physician, so they'll have all the help they need, no matter where we send them.

My parents sent me to MB for most of my schooling, and then I went to Hoover High. I had an opportunity to attend boarding school in Massachusetts, but that wasn't for me. But other than that, I didn't really have a choice as a kid. I don't think it would have mattered because I was on a 3rd/4th grade level as a kindergartner. My mother has a JD and MBA and my dad is a doctor. My grandmother was a college professor, and my grandfather was also a doctor.

I will say that I didn't mean for anyone to be offended with my comments, but I've actually taught in inner city schools, and while I do agree with a lot of what you said, there are a lot of misconceptions.

[pvjd]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

So? Are you sticking them in an inner city school where test scores are rock bottom? Did your parents do that with you?

Why get so upset over it? Some people don't have a choice when it comes to Bham schools, and I am sure they don't want their kids to feel dumped on because it is not on the same level as others.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by pvjd

Why get so upset over it? Some people don't have a choice when it comes to Bham schools, and I am sure they don't want their kids to feel dumped on because it is not on the same level as others.

That wasn't my point. Go back and read the post I was responding to. Somehow or another, the post tried to accuse people of being lazy simply they decided to not fight the battle.

[pennquaker09]

Well, I think some people harp on the schools just because.