Going Public

My parents sent me to public school. They were public school teachers, and they believed in the public school system.

In some areas, sending your child to public school might not constitute taking any kind of stand. In those areas, the schools are good and well-regarded.

Where I grew up, though, the schools were good, but not well-regarded. Sending their children to the public schools, despite the general opinions of the community, took some degree of bravery on the part of my parents.

My school years were enjoyable, and my education was top-notch. I truly believe that any child with involved parents can reach his or her potential.

I knew people at my public school who came from families like mine: educated, middle-class families. I also knew kids who had to rely on the school to take them to get a haircut, get glasses, or take a shower. It's hard to know that there are kids in the latter situation, but ultimately it's good to be aware of how lucky you are.

I cannot stress this enough: I received a top-notch education from my local public school system. Yet it was hard to face the opinions from the community at large: that the school system was terrible, damaged, unsafe.

Truthfully, I'm not sure I could have been as brave as my parents were in taking a stand and sending their children to this school system.

It probably should come as no surprise that in the middle class neighborhoods where I lived, none of the other kids on my street went to the same school as I did. None of the kids in my class at Sunday School went to the same school as I did.

It's not like I'm saying that I had a terrible childhood. Living in a neighborhood with no schoolmates does not a terrible childhood make. I'm just saying, it would have been nice to walk home from school every day with a gaggle of neighborhood kids, or be able to say something like, Oh yeah, I already know Timmy, he's my next-door neighbor.

I wanted my child to go to public school, and I wanted to live in a town where most people send their children to public school. So I bought a house in a town with well-regarded, community-supported public schools.

Nathan knows he is going to the public school, which my husband sort of pejoratively refers to as "the government school." Since he was two years old, Nathan would tell everybody that he is going to "the government school." When we pass by one of the public schools, Nathan says, "There's my government school." He tells stories that begin with, "When I'm bigger and I go to my government school ..."

Most of his friends will go to the government school. I like that when I ask parents of school-aged kids, "Does he go to [name of local public school]?" they usually say yes and don't look at me like I'm some kind of crazy, overly-liberal community-organizer type.

He will get to ride the bus with other kids from the street. He won't be subjected to people telling him his school is "ghetto" or "dangerous."

And this week, something amazing happened in my community. There was a ballot referendum to raise people's property tax dollars by about $100 a year that would go toward the school district. People in town rallied, and there were buttons and yard signs everywhere supporting the referendum. It was a far cry from the community sentiments toward the school district I grew up in.

The election on Tuesday included many such referendums (referenda?) in various towns throughout the county. My town was the only town where a school referendum passed. And it passed by 80%.

I am so proud of my town and its schools. I finally get to live in a community that supports its local schools and students.

Go government school!