Separation means Not Mixed.

Nov 08, 2010 12:49

I just chaperoned a field trip for my son's class. He attends a public school in NYC. The school bus is a yellow bus run by the city. It is contracted as a DOE bus ( Read more... )

societal rant, religion, kids, recap, red tape

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Comments 45

redstapler November 8 2010, 17:59:32 UTC
That's pretty fucking terrible.

If you have the spoons, please keep after this situation, and possibly take it to the blogs (beyond your own, of course) if it doesn't get addressed.

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jendaby November 9 2010, 01:25:18 UTC
I've been trying to find a functional website for Varsity bus Company so that I can see if the complaint actually went through. Once i find out more, I'll update.

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gryphonrose November 8 2010, 18:14:04 UTC
That does suck. But calling the DOE won't help. You need to talk to the bus lady instead. Just tell her what the bus driver was doing. She'll make sure it doesn't happen again, because she can speak to the driver directly.

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jendaby November 9 2010, 01:26:05 UTC
Marian might not be able to do anything, but I guess it couldn't hurt too much.

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(The comment has been removed)

jendaby November 9 2010, 01:27:21 UTC
You may be on to something there... but if I were rich, my kids would probably not be riding on public school buses. ;)

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heliograph November 8 2010, 21:23:15 UTC
Why not just ask the bus driver to turn it down if it was too loud? That makes it more a health, safety, and consideration-for-others issue and less of a political one. The person driving the bus doesn't get paid very much for one of the very worst jobs there is, so I'd try to cut them some slack.

As far as the content goes, isn't that just a learning opportunity? He's going to learn about Hell sooner or later, and it is better that he learns it from you rather than some kid on a street corner.

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redstapler November 8 2010, 23:08:55 UTC
I think you're missing the point of jendaby's post.

The person driving the bus doesn't get paid very much for one of the very worst jobs there is, so I'd try to cut them some slack.

Yeah, no. Having a hard job doesn't give them the right to passive aggressively proselytize to a bus-full of young children.

Public schools are arreligious spaces, and that includes school-funded conveyances.

This was egregious, and was rightly called out as what it was.

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heliograph November 9 2010, 01:18:04 UTC
Meh. When I was in public elementary school in the late 1970s, they had us say the Pledge and the Lord's Prayer every day. It didn't hurt me any, or the other non-Christian kids who also said the Lord's Prayer as cheerfully as everybody else ( ... )

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jendaby November 9 2010, 01:45:28 UTC
I grew up in a red state and we never payed in school. I take the separation of church and state very seriously. Children already get pigeonholed and stereotyped, they don't need someone bombarding them with negative messages like that. Anything that tells someone they are going to suffer if they don't follow a set religion is negative, and has no place in a school setting. This "we're right, you're wrong" attitude has GOT to stop - it sends the wrong message to children ( ... )

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swimtech November 9 2010, 00:11:22 UTC
Um, you have to make this public. Tell the press. 311 wants personal information for the weirdest stuff--I just wanted to tell them that a hydrant was uncapped, and they wanted my phone number and my e-mail and all kinds of stuff.

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jendaby November 9 2010, 01:48:21 UTC
311 told me I would not have to supply my personal information. It was the office of pupil transportation. I don't think the people at 311 are trained to do anything other than transfer calls and tell you they can't help you.

I'm going to check and see what's going on with the standard complaint route before I contact the press, but I really think it is just weird how so many people think this is a non-issue.

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swimtech November 9 2010, 01:52:06 UTC
Well, I would think that our Jewish mayor wouldn't care for it. I know I wouldn't care for it, either.

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jendaby November 9 2010, 04:39:21 UTC
Neither do I. I just want to try to go through the proper channels before getting the press involved, because I don't like the press.

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