lame-o field trip

The school board is considering a proposal (tonight) to shorten the school day by 45 minutes starting next school year. (How many times can I use "school" in one sentence?) The cut would also eliminate two "extra" teachers from each primary school which currently includes PE, Science, Computers and Music. Parents are in an uproar and the PTO officers are fighting amongst themselves via mass emails. I have received 8 or 9 mass emails TODAY and probably more than twenty over the weekend. I had planned to attend the board meeting but changed my mind. These crazies are gonna yap on and on and on and make the meeting last 5 hours. I have better things to do with my valuable time off! (And these are just the crazies from Kaylin's school- there are many other primary schools in the district with equally annoyed parents...)

Obviously cuts need to be made. Hopefully, they can find a different, better way! One cut they could make (that probably wouldn't save significant money) would be field trips. Kaylin currently gets one field trip per year. She came home the other night and excitedly told me about her upcoming field trip that included several museums and lunch at a pizza place!!!! She then begged me to immediately sign her permission slip and get the $3.50 she needed for the pizza.

I read the permission slip and it turns out they're going to the STRIP MALL that's about a half mile from our house! SERIOUSLY???? They're going to a store that sells fossils, a quilt store, touring a Vietnamese restaurant, checking out a karate academy and then eating a buffet lunch at a pizza place. Oh wait, they're also going to a bank!!!! Huh. HOW is this educational or even interesting???? How are they going to get 75-80 kids inside the tiny fossil shop? Five at a time? I wonder why they're skipping Big Lots, the hardware store and the tire place? And the bar and the Republican headquarters?

What a stupid, stupid field trip! I suppose the fossil place could be mildly educational, though probably boring for most 2nd graders. The other places are just drool-inducing! Why not have them bring their own lunch and take them to a park for a few hours? It would be just as free and about a thousand times more fun!

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Ugh. The neighbor kids keep coming over and ringing my doorbell even though they know my kids are at school. Do their parents not watch them AT ALL???