I, as a homeowner, have made my first mortgage payment!!
We're even paying a little extra each month to save thousands on interest in the end. Sigh...feels good.
(You know what also feels good? The thin mint cookies I just ate. Thanks to my awesome niece, Claire! ;)
Moving on...
The other night I watched the Academy Award nominated documentary "The Lottery" by Madeleine Sackler. It follows the story of four families in Harlem, NY who enter a lottery to win their child a once-in-a-lifetime education in one of their charter schools. Hundreds of thousands of families enter every year. Only a couple hundred get in. It gives astonishing statistics about the levels and standards of education in the New York public school system, (such as "58% of black 4th graders are functionally illiterate" and "about 50% of students in low-income communities will not graduate high school by the time they are 18") as well as opinions from those against the charter schools. "Why would anyone be against a better education for children" you might ask? I asked the same thing. It seems to be mainly Union workers who feel the most threatened. Understandable. I mean why wouldn't they be upset at the possibility of someone taking away their "right" to do a half-a**ed job at something that influences millions of children and will affect this country for decades to come. ("The achievement gap between low-income students and their higher-income peers cost the US about $500 billion per year.") The film also shows some parents of public school children who don't appreciate the charter schools shedding light on how horrible their educational system is. Seeing reactions like these saddens me. However, other parents stating that we should learn from these charter schools so we can implement what works into the public schools gave me hope. And it gives me hope to see all the people working so hard to better the lives of these children that are the future.
I'd also like to point out that they discussed how the backgrounds of the children in the program weren't a deciding factor in their success. It didn't matter if they were a poor black child growing up in a single parent household struggling every day. It showed that if you give young children the right opportunities and teach them the necessary skills, they are capable of extraordinary things.
It was a great documentary and a wonderful way of helping others to be aware of this issue and the realities of our schools.
On that note, I'd like to thank my writing partner tonight:
She had many ideas for the blog tonight... Most were veto-ed immediately.
Wow, what a good way to get information out to the public about investing in our children, our future. We shouldn't get so caught up on the socioeconomic status of the children in our schools, but instead give them every opportunity to succeed. Great review! I'll look forward to more, since I'm not able to watch much these days. Looks like you had a great hand...er, paw in the authoring :)
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