wonderful, educated people, but not here!

i won't complain about the "quality" of families that have children at the school in which i work; all those sentiments have been suppressed since middle school.

i'll just use the following to illustrate what class of people i deal with on a daily basis.

school starts at nine a.m. because most of the kids walk or are driven by their parents (one of the few schools in my district that does not have bus service for everyone), they are given until 9:10 to arrive without being considered "late." if you pull up at 9:11 pushing your kid out the door while you're still moving, i will come and ask you to park and sign the child in at the office. that has been the rule since october. notes were sent home about it. and we generally have compliance.

tuesday morning i was doing my normal thing, standing outside greeting the children as they entered the building. 9:09. 9:10. nobody. 9:11 and i see Ben, the red-haired freckle-faced fifth grader that always has a scowl on his face, walking towards me. did you walk or did your mom drive you, Ben? my mom drove me. tell her she needs to come to the office and sign you in, you're late. he shouts to his mother that she has to sign him in. there is an incomprehensible exchange of words, and Ben gets back into the car, i figure so that he can speak to his mother without having to yell from the sidewalk.

instead, the mother drives by with the windows rolled down and yells, if i have to sign him in he's not going!