So I checked into some info for a Private School for my kids today...

[trumad]

It's called the Masters Academy in Central Florida. It's a er..non-denomination Christian school and from the looks of it, a neat looking school...

I called the school and asked for the admissions dept. They put me through to the Manager of Admissions and I got her voice mail. It was the usual VM with the I'll call you back message but it had one extra segment. It was: " If you're interested in attending the Oliver North fundraiser at the beautiful Portifino hotel please indicate your desire and I will send you ticket info. :wtf:

SO...This school needs a convicted Criminal to raise money for it? Needless to say, my kids won't be attending the Masters Academy!

[Patriot_Spear]

1. Here's a better one...

According to Bush's* 'No Child Left Behind' Act, Private school kids are shielded from military recruiters- while public school kids are thrown to the wolves.

[fishnfla]

2. Well the Portofino is rather *nice*

What say we, ummm, "crash" the party? I'll go as Eva Braun in drag.

[jmm]

3. You should let the school know why your children

will not attend.

[protect freedom impeach bush now]

14. agree. Make sure and let them know why.

A private school in Dallas had(has?) a chess set in their front
lobby a "Clinton vs Starr" chess set.

Had Monica, Starr, Clinton, et al as chess pieces.
Pieces were about 10" high, board was about 3' x 3'.

Needless to say - my child never applied to that
rt-wing school, believe that 'chess set' is still there.

It was an expensive chess set. It was made with a lot of
costs involved. Why any school would have that chess set in
the lobby of the school's office UNLESS the administrators
were right wing assholes.

now I finally remeber the school's name - Winston.
On Royal at Tollway.

[calimary]

24. Aw - nobody accidentally slipped and fell onto it?

Some broken or missing chess pieces would render that "lovely" chess set unusable...

[fencesitter]

4. Fundraiser for what?

The new sedition wing? I need a voucher so I can send my kids there!

[Birthmark]

5. Master's Academy

I used to work in a field that brought me into contact with many of the schoold in central FL. The Master's Academy students were routinely the worst behaved bunch that I had to deal with. Just FYI.

[bearfartinthewoods]

6. why are you thinking of private schools?

[trumad]

7. Because the public school is 350 students

overcrowded.... It's fuc@ing ridiculous!...

[meegbear]

10. That's overcrowded?

Hell, back in my day, I graduated high school in Lynn MA in 1983, we had 3 highschools and my school alone had 350 students 9-12.

[dmr]

26. That's not what trumad is saying

it's not the size of the school, but the over crowding in the school. I believe trumad lives in Florida. When I was living in Miami-Dade County, my son's classroom always ended up in a portable with 35 to 40 kids, located out in a field, and quite a distance from the main school. A long walk to go to the bathroom or go to lunch, and very dangerous if it's storming outside, which is not only frequent, but more than a couple can pass through in a given day. The Miami-Dade school board (I believe the 5th largest in the US) is known for squandering money - this is the kind of board that if you vote the culprit out, another takes their place. Miami is in a world all it's own.

Now, back in my day - my graduating class in south eastern Michigan had a little more than 500 students, and my town was only about 4 square miles - but then, I'm a baby boomer, so we were booming it up! The difference, though, is that the school's were built, they were staffed, and they had the supplies needed to teach us.

:)

[SoCalDem]

32. My son's high school had 3,500 students

:(

[alfredo]

27. that is precisely what Bush wants you

to do, privatize education. If they destroy the public schools, then the free market people can teach the kids what they want to teach, and make a profit.

Home school if you can.

[Ress1]

8. This is sad.

The obvious GOP plan is to squeeze all of the money from public schools to the benefit of private schools.

[hedda_foil]

9. Tru ... are you aware that "non-denominational" is code for fundie?

It took me awhile to catch on because it sounds so benign but I've found there's a 1 to 1 correlation. Non-denominational=Fundamentalist.

[prolesunited]

11. I think you should dig up a few more facts

and write a letter to the editor. I don't think it would look too good to the general public to have a convicted criminal used for fund-raising. :evilgrin:

[T Roosevelt]

12. I thought you were moving...

wouldn't the MA be too far from where you will be? It's a ways for me and I'm not as far as you.

And I agree on the LTTE - wouldn't it be interesting to see that pop up in the Sentinel?

[trumad]

28. No

we did move but stayed in Oviedo... Chapman Lakes to be exact...It's about a mile from the Masters Academy.

The only reason I considered MA was because my kids' current school is so over crowded. The school was built 4 years ago and already has 15 trailers....

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. The school looks like a warehouse.

When it was being built I thought it was the greenhouse for the nursery across the street. I hear better things about St. Lukes.

BTW, did you notice that "Terra" Lane is just down the road?

[trumad]

29. LOL

I didn't notice that... St. Lukes is cool but they're even crowded...They have an average of 28 kids per class... I'm going to keep them at Evans... I've had conferences with my Kids teachers and they are wonderful... The school is overcrowded because of the Apartment corridor that was built for UCF. The school board didn't take into account the amound of single families who who move inot those apt's....

BTW: Hey Backlash...You sound close by... Where's about are you?

[JewelDigger]

15. It's a private school, they can do what they want

if you don't like who they hold fundraisers for then you don't have to support it, or the school, or send your kid there, or anything else. Remember, we supposedly live in a FREE country. I believe you support the idea of a free country, don't you?

Writing a letter to the school (especially when you don't have any 'investment' there via a student there, or by you being a financial (or otherwise) donor) is REALLY REALLY wrong-headed and out of line. You'll look like some whacko idiot. Writing a letter to the paper is even worse and whackier.

Btw, I wouldn't go to a fundraiser for Oliver North. And who knows, perhaps the school won't have as good of a turnout as they hope. Some people know how to communicate subtlely (sp?) and they have a real right to have their imput heard (because they are already a member of that school community).

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. This could be an act that leads to disparate impact.

Or worse, an actual pretext for discrimination. Think about it. Why would they have that information on a telephone message for incoming calls? Maybe they want to turn away left-thinking prospects. Do they have a right to do it? Perhaps they did when they weren't so muddled with public money. But I think it's a good idea to start documenting these occurrences because I suspect we are going to see a pattern developing and private schools will find ways to quietly eliminate "undesirable" prospects from ever applying. You see, if they don't apply then there is no evidence of a pattern of discrimination at the application level -- no paper trail. And certainly no chance that someone will actually attend who will challenge the school's larger mission.

Private schools will lose their autonomy once they start getting on the public dole. Why they would want to go down this path when all signs look like the Republicans are now singing their swan song, is beyond me.

[JewelDigger]

20. I guess a brave soul would think to him/herself:

Gee, I don't like this certain aspect of this school, but it has a lot of good points otherwise. Perhaps if I get in there I can have SOME influence about some of these issues/attitudes. Every member of a community has an impact on that community and I see enough good things here that I want to be a part of it - the whole idea of 'diversity is good' and WHY it's good. If this is a good school and trumad's child would get the best education possible from it, then he/she should stop focusing on the 'peanuts' of the phone msg and focus on the 'elephant' of the education and the child.

Sorry to say, but it's serious tin-foil hatting when you think they're trying to filter people out with an opening telephone. message.

[The Backlash Cometh]

21. One incident wouldn't be enough...

...which is why you document them as they occur, waiting to see if a pattern develops. It also helps to understand the area. This wouldn't be tinfoil for this area. It would be standard of operation. In this area you have local boys mingling with Northern transplants/retirees who plainly don't like minorities nor Democrats, and they don't have any qualms saying so.

[JewelDigger]

23. I don't know what to say....I'm not familiar with your area & it's culture

...just give your children the best education possible. Nothing's perfect. Remember, parents are ALWAYS a child's first and best teacher. Children need to see other people and other 'ways' rich & poor alike, and then hopefully you will share your attitudes about it all at home with them.

I'm off to work now, so I won't have any more comments (although I will check this thread later tonite).

Peace

[shimmergal]

18. Even a private school has a public aspect.

Presumably they're "non-profit" and thus benefit from that status, (unlike families or ordinary individuals.) It'd be perfectly all right to send a letter to the school explaining what one disliked about the phone menu and/or the fundraiser. Non-threatening and non-obscene, of course. They don't have to pay attention to it, but at least maybe it would breach the "bubble" of group-think for someone there!

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. Writing a letter is wrong-headed?

Why? Boycotting a product is going to be more effective if the seller knows why you're not buying. The letter should be short and polite; if they get a bit of reaction like this, they might think again next time. Letters to papers might discourage a few other prospective parents as well - but there might be a few nutters who support North, so you might end up giving free publicity.

On the other hand, maybe it's a public-spirited criminal rehabilitation program... </sarcasm>

[trumad]

30. No...I won't write a letter...

But I did call the Super and let him know that their business decisions were moronic.

[radwriter0555]

17. I HOPE you TOLD them the reason that you won't be applying? LET THEM KNOW

your feelings, that he is a convicted felon and you can't support such hypocrisy.

[calimary]

25. Absolutely you should indicate why they''ve lost another

tuition check next year. Absolutely. Money talks. Even as it's withheld.

[StopThief]

22. Well. . .

you should be supporting the teacher's unions by sending your children to public school anyway. Maybe this was a sign.

[trumad]

31. You're right

It was a sign and it shook me back to my core beliefs... Fight for the Public school teachers....