I had my first ever PTA meeting last night.  I live in a community that is, quite frankly, spoiled.  We have truly wonderful public schools district wide.  Many schools in the district have either been recently renovated or are on the list to be renovated soon.  We have on staff at our elementary school (whose salaries are funded my money raised through the PTA) a math specialist, a reading specialist, a Spanish teacher and a social worker.  I can't think of much that we lack... maybe one of those massive raised walkways over the busy street we would have to cross since we live near the southern boundary for our school?  You know, the kind with the escalators to take you up like they have all over the strip in Vegas?  Seriously, we have so much.
     I was surprised to find that when the Q&A portion of the evening began, some parents began pummeling the panel of teachers with questions better suited to a meeting with the school board.  After one teacher from each grade, the reading specialist and the principal each took a turn sharing a bit of what their little corner of the world looks like, the topic of conversation quickly became class size.  There seemed to be an issue over one sixth grade class having 27 students.  That sounds a bit high to me, but the teacher of that class was on the panel and struck me as the sort of man that was up to the challenge.  It also fits within district standards for class size that have been set for thirty-some years.  We have outgrown our school and are already apparently in the process of getting some bids for improvements and additions, which would help significantly.  We are also working with pay freezes for teachers, millions of dollars in budget cuts for education and the possibility of closing several schools in the district.  Taking all those things into account, I count myself blessed that we're not talking about class sizes of 37!  Even after it was made clear that the board of education was the only one who could do anything about that sort of thing, one woman in particular seemed bent on spending all night discussing it.  She monopolized the conversation for quite some time, doing away with the raise-your-hand-and-ask-the-panel-one-question format.  I finally couldn't take it anymore and raised my hand.  I asked if the class sizes had significantly increased in the last year or two.  The answer was yes.  I raised my hand for my follow up question: did the teachers feel like they were getting adequate support from both parents and staff to handle the class sizes they were given.  The answer to that was also yes.  These teachers seemed stretched and concerned with the trend, but certain they were prepared to provide an excellent education to their students this year.  That was all I needed to hear to be satisfied that we weren't in danger of turning out wild, uneducated children in scores.
     Flash forward through ten or fifteen more minutes of what bordered somewhere between a complaint and an attack from parents who were outraged that their children might not be experiencing the apex of learning right here in the good ol' midwest.  I was starting to regret my choice to sit in the front row; it made the flashes of hurt and frustration on the teachers' faces to be to easy to see.  It was clear that these people work very hard and care very much for far too little money.  I finally had to raise my hand one more time and tell my story:
     "I am a beginner here, with my first kindergartner in this school.  When the school year was close to starting, many people would ask where my daughter was going to go to school.  When I told them, the response was always how lucky I was to be able to send my daughter to such an awesome school.  My daughter comes home from school every day happy, well cared for and well educated.  She loves it here.  If your coworkers and peers are as great as those of you who took the time to come share with us tonight, I expect she will have a wonderful elementary school career.  So, thank you for that."
     When I went to pick up my daughters from the girl scout troop that was volunteering to provide childcare on site, I thanked the troop leader for what the troop had done, since it made the difference on whether or not I would have been able to attend the meeting.  What I hadn't realized was right behind me stood the reading specialist from the panel-- who said, "And we're very glad you were able to come.  Thank you for what you said."
     I was a bit giddy when I got home, sharing the small but important compliment after I got Ladybug and Baby Duck to sleep.  I thought that was the end of it...  Until I picked Baby Duck up from school today. She said her teacher- who hadn't been at the meeting- asked the class who it was that had the mom with really dark hair with the purple streak in it, and that she had raised her hand and said "Me!"... Teacher told Baby Duck that I had said very nice things at the meeting.  I had no idea it would be passed along, but I'm sure glad it was!  Those folks need some positive reinforcement for the great job they do!

CL