This mother writes in response to an article by a Chicago principal, Troy LaRavierre.

I understand this mother’s anxieties. She wants the same things for her child that Mayor Rahm has at the University of Chicago Lab School. Instead, her son got scripted lessons that were developmentally inappropriate, that were dully academic instead of joyful. If only there were a way to keep the politicians–Bush, Obama, Emanuel, Duncan–out of our classrooms or at least get them to pledge to fight for all children to have the same opportunities and resources that they want for their own children.

She writes:

“Thank you for this and to Mr. LaRavierre’s effort and courage. This is my first post after lurking for months, trying to understand why I had a rising anxiety and confusion as my son began kindergarten at a Chicago Public School Regional Gifted (aka merely accelerated) Program that had just been moved from its overcrowded original location to a Title I, On Probation, AUSL Turnaround. Our RGC classroom was the first time middle-class children and parents were joining the school, which until three years ago had served the children who lived in subsidized housing so notorious they were torn down.

“We withdrew him from the program in March after months of agonizing, multiple meetings with the teacher and principal. Well, I agonized, being a neophyte to urban public education post-NCLB. (I am a graduate of small-town Catholic schools.) My husband, a Romanian who came of age during the worst deprivations and oppressions of Ceausescu’s dictatorship, and also trained as a teacher and coming from a long line of teachers in his hometown, was aghast at what we were encountering in the school and kindergarten especially, if only in terms of how didactic and developmentally inappropriate it was. Its AUSL connection made the system opaque, leadership inaccessible. Title I status meant that parents could not advocate or mobilize as they can in more affluent schools (e.g., no regular PTA, modified Local School Council). I served as Secretary of the Parent Advisory Council, a well-meaning but impotent group that was not taken seriously by anyone in administration.

“Our son immediately began showing signs of stress and anxiety. He is a young five, with a mid-July birthday for a September 1st cutoff. The parents of boys discussed often the punishment system in place in the classroom, which involved a color thermometer, “Think Sheets” (for children who had no formal training in writing or reading), withdrawal of the 20 minutes of “Afternoon Centers” at the end of the day while they sit alone with their backpacks on and perhaps are allowed to read a book. The parents of girls had no idea this was happening.

“Anyway, there are numerous stories I would like to share with the readers here, if you are interested. Between the sociodemographics, the AUSL factor, the pedagogy and philosophy, the “data-driven” mission, we seemed to experience everything discussed here, but from the perspective of parents who had no idea what we had fallen into. The facilities are gorgeous, the location perfect, so we couldn’t understand at first our malcontent. We couldn’t understand why our son was so miserable, although the hour of homework a night gave us a clue. Bar graphs for kindergartners! Use your phonics to tell if “skunk” is spelled with a “c” or a “k” or…both? (Not kidding…he hadn’t even been taught phonics, much less word recognition….) I found myself frustrated; why do I have to do the teaching? The teachers are trained to do this. I don’t know how to teach a five-year old to read or understand mathematical concepts. I need to make dinner. Get the little sister ready for bed.

“Essentially, kindergarten was skipped and our son, a just-turned-five year old, was thrown into 1st grade. The wonderful play-based private Jewish preschool he attended for two years must have let him down. At this kindergarten, the kids are expected to read at 2nd grade level by the end of this year. I’m pretty sure our son has not achieved that, but you should see how much he enjoys reading now that he’s not in that environment.

“Everyone here seems far more erudite on these issues than I. I am interested in your perspectives and insight and heartened that there are people fighting for children’s right to a fully human education, rather than skills training. I feel badly giving up on a public school because I agree they are the foundation of a healthy democracy, but we could not sacrifice our son. My husband and I have doctorates in Literature and Anthropology respectively. There is nothing we value more than knowledge and education. The experience was, to me as an anthropologist, enlightening. There is nothing like participant observation, especially with your child’s mind at stake, to give a little perspective. Our neighborhood school, two blocks from us and two from President Obama’s personal residence and another few from the University of Chicago Lab Schools, might be fine for the early grades, but it is also on probation and busing kids in from very rough neighborhoods. Are we racist/classist/elitist to want to avoid that? I feel as if I am rambling here…there is so much I am processing about this experience.

“I am glad there are people in CPS fighting the system. It is an overwhelming task. This blog has helped me immeasurably trying to discern the problem before we pulled our son and has continued to validate the decision. You see, it was a loss. I cried for a week. I had such hopes for the school, the program, the diverse community, and to be fair, the program works for some kids (who happen to mostly be older girls). The teacher works hard (the weekly rubrics!). The principal seemed to want to do a good job (though my husband described him as a “salesman” or “business manager” rather than an educator. I didn’t really know what he meant.) It seemed perfect. But it wasn’t for our son, who would say when I asked how his day was,” Good. I stayed on Green.”