How interesting are the recommendations for the OP to do surreptitious and probably illegal audio recording without the knowledge and consent of all parties. As someone who is an actual parent, unlike many of the posters in this thread, I would be more concerned about what that says about me as a role model to my child than anything else. If you are not a parent, you may not understand this.
"Keeping a wary eye on agents of the government" is useful behavior to model.
Such a recording is illegal in very few states.
Honest people have nothing to fear from other's recordings of their interactions.
My thoughts, exactly and why I'd welcome their presence.
It may be rather telling that the thoughts and experiences of the majority do not agree with her. It seems her classroom and her school administration may be closer to the ideal than what most others have dealt with/experienced.
Or what is more likely is that few people here have, or have had, elementary-age school children and/or no actual experience or training in education. BW is a notable exception to this as having both.
Recounting your crappy experience in high school or with one poor teacher by the Rugged Individualists here is quite, quite different from being a parent with a child in elementary school and being responsible for that child. Until you do it yourself, it is all theoretical for you.
Having attended a lot of school and school Board meetings over the decades, I have always thought it odd that so many people think they are qualified to have an expert opinion on education solely by virtue of having had a couple of kids. I own a car, but this does not make me an expert in automotive engineering.
But as the rich history of APS and life shows, having actual experience or knowledge of a subject is no bar to expressing an opinion!
Your assumptions are incorrect.
1. I was a student in two different private religious elementary schools.
2. I was a student in a public elementary school, two public middle/Jr HSs, and two public high schools. Quite a contrast to the aforementioned private religious schools.
3. I took several Ed Dept courses in college, intending to double-major in Physics & Education, but was dismayed by the content (lack thereof), instructors, and the quality of the Ed majors. I decided not to throw good money after bad and double-majored in Physics & History instead.
4. I have two children, one currently in kindergarten.
5. I have worked with elementary-aged boys as a leader in Cub Scouts and have trained them up on various skills. (Amazing how well my experience training fresh out of HS recruits translated over.)
6. I am on the board of trustees for the private religious school my children attend.
As an aside, we are good friends with several families, one or both of whose parents work in the public schools (classroom teachers, music teacher, vice principal) . NONE of them send their
own kids to public schools and keep us posted on the current state of public school affairs in those particular districts (FTW, Irving, Dallas, Plano).
I would suggest that opinions contrary to yours are not necessarily based on ignorance.
Kids have been kids for millenia. It does not require a Ed Dept indoctrination to figure out what has worked for that millenia. I'd suspect that many of those you despise at board meetings have a firmer grasp than union apparatchiks and entry-level policritters.
Especially with regard to what is best for their particular children.
