More Than One Me

All it takes is one bad teacher to ruin the lives of many bright and cheery kids.

While my Care is not a cheery child and is bordering on stereotypical goth without the clothes, she is a smart kid. The light bulb is at least a 120 watt. At least, it was until the most recent Prairie Rose S.D. mistake darkened the hallways of the school. In every class except those four, my kid had damn good marks. My kid is now crushed. I’m talking CRUSHED. She tried damn frickin’ hard to keep up with that…creature’s…teaching methods. And it wasn’t just my kid, so what follows here is mostly conjecture. But I do know she really started picking on Care after I went to the parent-teacher night.

The woman holds a grudge, obviously. Just because I didn’t cow-tow to her when I went to take adult upgrading, just because Care is not the shiny happy student 24-7, just because I live a non-christian life – is that any reason to push her psychotic beliefs and attitudes on my kid? Granted, it wasn’t just my kid. She assigned homework to 12 year olds like she was assigning to the graduate class. Lots of work, very, very little explanation. And if you missed a day or two because of illness or whatever (this includes the storms we had) she plowed on anyway, and did NOT help when asked (and I know my kid and others asked). She refused to explain new material, or to go back and help those kids that she’d already ground into the floor under her sensible shoes.

Care is passing the grade because I say she’s passing and if the school board doesn’t like it – they know where I live. In fact, I know where most of them live, so perhaps a little quid pro quo is in order. They didn’t bother telling me whether or not she’s actually heading into grade 8 next year, I’ll just continue to assume.

Every other teacher gave Care great marks and good comments. Except this one bitch that needs to have her attitude adjusted.

I’m trying not to share my loathing of that woman with Care. I’m trying to give her some hope that maybe next year the sow will be gone and she can just start all over again with another, better, teacher. And if by some chance that woman is going to be teaching something at the grade 8 level, I will have Care either switched to another class, or that one she’ll spend in the library learning by correspondance.

Out of the five other parents I’ve talked to, all have the same opinions of the woman. She should have stayed at the Adult Ed. school teaching ESL. Maybe those folks like being treated like shit under her heel but we don’t….and we won’t put up with it.

And just in case Ms. M. K. does find this – before you deign to edit my kid’s writing, you fucking well better watch yours. Using a run on to tell her not to use a run on makes you look stupider than you already do.

My kids have been having a wonderful year in school. Both have been bullied to the point of retaliation (YAY RHIA! Give him another one in the face for me…), one has been having a bitch of a time with the replacement teacher (the one that started the year had a baby…and we miss her like crazy!) being a total cu…pain in the as… difficult person. My kid is NOT stupid, nor is she deaf, nor blind. She has a visual perception learning disability. A sheet of clear red plastic was provided for her to read better and this camel…er…difficult person…replaced it with a large chunk of glass that’s meant to MAGNIFY letters. CARE IS NOT BLIND!

Not to mention the bit …difficult person… marks her down. I’ve looked at Care’s work, I know it’s worth at least half again what this …difficult person… marks. And perhaps if she wants to complain about Care’s ‘almost’ run-on sentences, she ought not to use one to point it out. I am mother, hear me edit.

Then again, the …person… isn’t a regular teacher. She used to teach ESL at the local adult ed school. She’s all they could scrape up…

So, ya know, I figured she’d know what she was teaching. Yeah…right. Bit…er…she had a high and mighty superior attitude when I met with her and then the cu…er…person…had the gall to treat Care like shit afterwards. She messed with the wrong Momo. Remember, people, I had first hand experience dealing with the local ’special needs trained’ teacher that slapped an advanced student across the face and shook her (said kid was homeschooled from there on…), grabbed the autisitc boy and yelled into his face, and another time popped a balloon behind his head. Oh, and how about the ASD boy who is the SWEETEST little guy ever, that she totally – COMPLETELY – ignored?

This is why the Manitoban school system needs to get a grip on what the allow in the schools near our children.

Anyway, on to my end of the year rant. My kids take band. It’s not an option in grades 7 and 8 here. It’s required. So, I was told that the school provides the instruments. Great! Not a problem then, particularly since I can’t afford $1000 a year to rent the cornet and flute. Especially since neither girl plays well and neither ever, ever, EVER practices at home. Ever.

So, I get this note from the band teacher saying I owe rental fees. I’m like, what the fuck? No, it’s not as much as if I were renting from St.John’s Music in the city…but still. If I had KNOWN said fees were going to be required for a required course, I would have done something about it IN THE FALL – before the classes started. Not four days before school ends, not two weeks before I have to fork out $600+ to go to the provincial baseball championships. Most certainly NOT since I was specifically told the SCHOOL PROVIDES THE INSTRUMENTS. And it’s not like I would mind paying, either – but I was told that the instruments were provided (and since the course is a REQUIRED one, shouldn’t they be provided??) and I was NOT informed last fall. Common courtesy.

And they tell me my behaviour isn’t necessary nor helpful. Care’s teacher doesn’t give her notes and snarks at her as often as she can – not to mention loads her down with HS amounts of homework (assigned, this is not stuff being missed in class) that is never explained, so she has NO idea what she’s doing, Rhia is constantly and consistently bullied and the useless twit of a principal would rather be vague and offer suggestions than actually implement said suggestions and/or DO something.

I may yell at my kids, and I may argue loudly with them. I may not be able to provide them with the latest in designer thongs and socks and maybe I don’t allow them to pierce their belly buttons and suck the face off their boyfriends in class… (yes, one of Care’s classmates does this – at barely 13) but ya know what? My kids aren’t out getting drunk, they aren’t stealing family pets and torturing/killing them, they aren’t breaking windows and beating up other kids, nor are they breaking into homes and stealing.

Yeah – I may be white trash, but I’m proud white trash and I won’t put up with being treated like the scum from the bottom of a shoe anymore. I ain’t the only single mom in town…I know all about the shit from this school division and single moms.

You want something from me, be up-fucking-front about it. And don’t tell me that ALL the kids had those notes about their intstruments sent home, either – I know better. I’ve already talked to some of the other parents.

Back the feck off, or you’ll be settling yet another lawsuit. Just what PRSD needs.