"E-mail fires up Florida parents"
Unoffical E-mail message from Jay Wheeler, Osceola County School Board
MyFox Orlando (April 25, 2008)
School Uniforms Required
Here's the deal. The Osceola County School District decided that they'd insist on school uniforms. Nothing particularly fancy:"--Navy blue or khaki pants, walking shorts, slacks, skirts, skorts, jumpers, or similar clothing made of twill, corduroy, or denim fabric. (A small logo is acceptable)
"--White or navy blue shirts with collars such as a polo, oxford, or dress shirt (A small logo is acceptable)"
School Board Member Knows About Parents
An Osceola county school board member, Jay Wheeler, says that parents complained, saying they can't afford the uniforms.Jay Wheeler knows better. He sent an email to parents, saying:
"Everyone can afford Wal-Mart and if they cant they need to think about turning of their cable TV or stop buying alcohol or cigarettes and spend their money on their children." [emphasis mine]
Reality Check, Please!
Two points.- Spool bored minters shad chick they're spilling:
- The contraction of can not is "can't" - not "cant"
- One turns off cable TV, one does not turn of much of anything
- The assumption that "Everyone can afford Wal-Mart" - if only they'd lay off booze and smokes - may not be completely accurate
Here's a Look one Underclass Household
This family buys at Walmart, when we have to go upscale, but most of our clothing budget is spent at rummage sales (garage sales, or yard sales, in some parts of America) - and at second-hand clothing shops.I will admit that we have cable TV (this part of central Minnesota isn't exactly inundated with broadcast channels). We also fritter our money away on telephone service, and (obviously) an Internet connection.
Booze and smokes? We can't give those up, since this household is dry and smoke-free.
Given what seems to be the attitude toward people like us, I'm glad we don't live in Osceola County.
We could cobble together a school uniform or two, as defined. The correct colors could be hard to get, since there'd be a run on appropriate clothing, but we might be able to bleach and dye our way into compliance.
It would take work, though.
Your Attention, Please! Not All Poor People are Shiftless
What irked me about the email is the apparent assumption that there were two sorts of parents:- Those who simply go to a retail store and purchase the required clothing (several sets for each child, unless the household does overnight laundry)
- Shiftless ne'erdowell spendthrifts who waste their money on liquor and fast living
Mr. Wheeler "says its time for parents to focus on their kids. Saying it's time to stop being politically correct and start being serious about education.
"Finally adding, "I just told the truth and parents need to take responsibility and put their children first!' "
Urging parents to be responsible, and put their children's education before their own pleasures: Good idea.
Assuming that parents who can't afford multiple sets of school uniforms don't care about their children: Mind-numbingly, world-class-stupid idea.
9 comments:
Arrogance and ignorance is a particularly bad combination in a school administrator. (Oh, and school uniforms suck.)
In regards to school uniforms, I strongly disagree with this shift towards conformity. we should learn to embrace our differences instead.
markstoneman,
Agreed, about A and I in a school administrator. He's done damage, I think.
Ekim,
Yes. I'm not as against school uniforms as some: but I do see your point.
There was a joke, back when everyone was wearing jeans and T-shirts: "All together now, say 'I am an individual!' "
Great post, and good points all around.
I will say this much however - I have a hard time seeing the difference between buying your kids regular clothes, or uniform clothes. Either way - you have to buy the kid some clothes. It isn't as if the school is asking them to buy at Gap or some other such store. You can get khakis at the good will. When I was in school, and yes, in uniform, I bought my own uniforms as a teenager. I bought them at Salvation Army. Why? for the same reason you buy work clothes for a shit job there. You have no desire to spend any kind of money on clothes you don't want.
That said, taking into consideration that some parents may be too poor to buy brand new school uniforms, the administrator in question should have simply said "if parents have concerns about where to purchase these items, please contact the school". The parents also need to use some common sense, like I said, they have to buy clothes for the kids one way or another.
All that aside - yup, the guy is an idiot. He isn't breaking through the PC fog to get serious about education, he is just attacking parents because they are poor.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Anok,
Thank you for taking the time to make that comment.
And, raising points that could use clarification.
"I have a hard time seeing the difference between buying your kids regular clothes, or uniform clothes."
My hat's off to the school for defining a uniform which is quite affordable: and flexible. What I think could be challenging is getting the right colors.
When the uniform dress code goes into effect, all households with children enrolled in the school will be looking for navy blue or khaki bottoms, and white or navy blue tops. In this part of Minnesota, these colors aren't uncommon: but they're not exactly common, either. On top of that, solid colors are far from universal.
Assuming that the school district was smart, retailers could have been informed a few months (at least) ahead of the announcement, so that the stores could have ordered, and have in stock, enough tops and bottoms to go around. (Sauk Centre stores do something like this, for school supplies - a cooperative effort with the district.)
That would take care of families who could afford several sets of new clothing for each student.
People in our position, though, would be competing for a limited selection at garage sales and places like Goodwill. (The closest Goodwill store is over forty miles away, but we've got a second-hand clothing store in town.) Putting several sets of a uniform on short notice could be a real challenge. More heavily-populated areas would have more low-cost, second-hand clothing sources, but there would also be more people trying to find complete sets of kakhi, white, and navy-blue clothing.
To the Osceola County School District's credit, they have informed people that assistance is available for people who need it.
The school district's policy could be debated: but the problem is, as you said, Mr. Wheeler's astonishing lack of common sense. And, I think, abyssal ignorance as to how people who aren't like him live.
I like the idea of school uniforms. It would've been one less thing to be teased about when I was in school.
For schools that have these sort of rules I think there should be some sort of fund available for low income households. Sort of like reduced price lunches. Like Norski said, those exact colors would be pretty hard to come by just from garage sales.
Brigid, thanks for the comment.
As I wrote before, the Florida school district does have arrangements for people who have financial issues.
As for the leveling effect of school uniforms: that's in large part what the traditional academic gowns were about. The idea was to cover a person's costume, so that aristocracy and peasantry would not be clearly distinguishable.
There's sense in that, in an environment where intellectual merit and not economic status are supposed to be the important factor.
Norski - those are excellent points, and also road blocks that the school should have considered before enacting the new rules.
Of course I was thinking of where I live, and not where you live. We have so many schools with uniforms here that the right colors and styles are abundant in any store.
One thing that could be brought about about colors ans styles is that if the school opts not to provide the uniforms via a specified company, they have to allow some leeway in colors and cuts. None of it will be "uniform" because of the varying stores carrying varying styles.
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