"Unfriend"

It started with the political dittoheads.  The unthinking morons who merely forward talking points without thinking were the first to go.   Unfriend.

While I was at it, I disassociated from the hucksters.  You know, the people trying to sell stuff from their living rooms.  The type of people who are always inviting you to parties where they demo products and try to sell you junk.   Unfriend.

That made it easier to go after the jetsetters.  You know, the people always trying to get attention by posting pictures of exotic places they're visiting, or checking in from a restaurant in some foreign country you'll never travel to.   No more hotels on tropical beaches, thirty-ton stone Buddhas or complaints about airport wifi.  Unfriend.

Then I went after a few more groups.  The stay-at-home moms complaining about their kids throwing up on them.  The annoying dads who post pictures of their crotchfruit as if anyone cared.  The schmucks who post thrice-daily spiritual affirmations in the form of frilly text over a picture of a sunset.  The amateur 'life coaches.'  The self-diagnosed Asperger's sufferers who can't catch a break.  The political activists who post inflammatory comments about human rights violations in dark corners of the world that no one cares about.  The people who post spoilers about TV shows you haven't seen yet.  The people who post glurge their crazy old aunt sends them.  Defriend, defriend, defriend. ..

Can't forget about the social game addicts looking for some sort of assistance with the next Candy Crush level or looking for something to bling out their virtual farm.  Or the people who talk about their jobs in specialized lingo only their colleagues understand.  The saccharine newlywed couples who post their wedding photos.  The people with low self-esteem who constantly fish for compliments.  The teens posting pictures of themselves trying to out-party one another.  The girls who duckface.  Defriend, defriend, defriend. ..

And who wants to stay connected to the perpetually clueless?  You know - the people who can't figure out the difference between the search bar and the status update bar and who comment in all caps? Or the vaguebookers who post non-specific references to Things Generally Going Wrong so that other people will drag the details of the problem out of them?    The people with First-World Problems?  The people a hop, skip and jump behind the conversation who re-post things everybody was talking about three days ago?  Unfriend, unfriend, unfriend...

We got rid of all the people who were annoying on Facebook, and suddenly, the social network world was a very boring place.  Pretty much just me and Fred.  We like the same things, but he only posts a couple times a month.  Man, Facebook sucks.

Full-day Kindergarten Back In

So it's back in.  Forgive my cynicism, but it's probably not wise to cancel enrollments at the private school until the budget passes. 

I'm glad we're not cutting academics to preserve sports.  But my concern over the horseshit we've had to endure along the way is completely unaddressed. 

Folks, I think we're seeing the Law of Unintended Consequences at work here.  I'm sure this tax cap process was well-intended, but it gives the board and the school district too much power to bluff their way through the budget process.  The dynamic has completely changed, and it's going to take some time for communities to fully grok what's real and what's mere posturing.   The consequences of failing to pass a budget are certainly greater in magnitude.

I don't like the process and I think it's having the exact opposite effect of what was intended. 

I'm not saying I'll vote "No," but...

My daughter is enrolled in private kindergarten.  Whether we actually put her there in September or go with a half-day program remains to be seen.

What I'm exceptionally pissed at is hypocritical parents who ask me to vote yes on the budget at this point, claiming that a no vote "screws the kids."  That's easy to say, coming from a position where you just got everything you wanted including fully-funded sports teams.  I equate that to "We just screwed the kids.  Don't screw them further."

On one hand, voting no puts us in a position to see programs cut to unhealthy levels.  It will be a big deal to the kids.  Without a doubt it will impact them negatively.

On the other hand, I'm in a position where I've no longer got a dog in this hunt.  Perhaps voting no this time around will force the board and sports-focused parents to reassess their priorities and perhaps force the school district to unfuck itself for 2014-15 when my daughter goes into first grade.

In that way, a "yes" vote now sets a dangerous precedent.  It says "we're okay with this new process painting parents into corners and we're okay with how the priorities have been set."  But I'm not.  A "yes" vote kicks the can down the road and makes it easier for us to prioritize sports above academics in future budget votes.  Whether that means putting kindergarten on the chopping block again in future budget votes while keeping the precious sports programs intact remains to be seen.  It certainly makes it easier with a precedent.

So, here's where I am right now.  I'm not tolerating anyone telling me I'm selfish for voting my self-interest here.  At a minimum, the BOE and the football moms can shit bricks for a couple weeks while we fans of academics decide which way we're going to vote.  Shit bricks while we decide whether we should vote according to our interests or vote to pay twice for kindergarten while the kids run on the sports fields.  Shit bricks wondering whether your "stop being so selfish because you didn't get what you wanted" arguments are going to fly.  Shit bricks wondering whether we feel like we should continue to be held hostage like this.

I have no dog in this hunt anymore.  Neither do many of the parents who my wife saw at private kindergarten registration, putting their deposits down for the fall.  Think about what that means.  Then decide if you want to call our bluff or maybe re-think your priorities.

Priorities

I'm shaking my head as I'm watching a video up on Patch.  And it's taking me back to my days at The Sound Observer, when we reported on the insanity that is a school budget vote.

In many ways, the issues we ran into in those days at SWR weren't dissimilar to the ones faced by Sachem today, even though their situations are completely different.  The major difference is that we have this new and completely whack-a-doo process for achieving consensus on what ought to be budgeted for.  I think our school superintendent has done a reasonably good job at informing the public of the consequences of failing to pass the budget on the first try.  I think public understanding falls apart in the wake of the failure, though, and a lot of people need to be educated about the substance of what happens now.  I also think the process itself needs a ton of work, and that the community shouldn't be in a place where they're forced to make a bunch of false choices.  For instance, pass the largest proposed property tax increase on Long Island or lose full-day kindergarten.

What I'm about to post is going to seem inflammatory to some.  I've definitely got a dog in this hunt, as my daughter will start kindergarten next year, and I'm personally very disappointed by the proposal to move to half-day kindergarten.  That said, I feel like there are two fundamental disconnects when it comes to making these choices.  Let's get the more obvious one out of the way...

Close the freaking middle schools.  Enrollments are decreasing.  My understanding is that the BOE is reluctant to make the decision to close two of the four middle schools because they don't yet fully understand the economic impact of doing so.  First off, the fact that we don't have the right information in order to make the decision one way or another is an unbelievable disgrace.  That decision was looming for quite some time - to not have information at the ready is the fault of the BOE and they should be ashamed.  When you have districts on the island that have, in the past, considered consolidation as an option even when enrollments are flat or increasing, to balk at making that decision when enrollments are decreasing is irresponsible.  Close the schools, assess the savings later.  Such a move may prevent Sachem from having to make even more difficult decisions down the line.  I don't understand why the BOE is waiting.

Then there's the tougher one.

Sports aren't as important as academics.  Period.  There I said it.  I've covered school boards and written about them on many occasions and this is a classic problem that has grown worse on a macro level over the years.  We have an unhealthy attachment to sports programs such that we prioritize them above academic programs, and that's wrong.  Over the years I've found that the attachment is driven mostly by emotion - parents who live vicariously through their kids and harbor dreams of sports scholarships and the NBA or NFL.  Or it's driven by some misguided argument that sports somehow teach our kids more valuable lessons about how to be part of a team, or about leadership skills.  Curiously, people who argue that notion are dismissive of how things like the Robotics Club can teach those things, too.  And they can do it while teaching skills that will be far more valuable to kids after they graduate.  As an employer, I can tell you I've never hired a kid because he could throw a ball around.  If he knows Python, on the other hand...

Wake up, people.  Employers are telling you what you need to do as far as preparing kids for jobs after they graduate.  And basketball ain't it.  Which is why it's nothing short of a fucking disgrace that something like the Robotics Club has to live with a 50% budget cut when it's giving kids the preparation for jobs in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields we so sorely need.  Yes, STEM jobs.  That thing the President keeps talking about in his State of the Union speeches.  He's not talking about football.

And yes, it's even more of a disgrace that we'll consider forcing 5-year-olds to learn the same amount of material in half the time, while varsity sports escape the budget axe unscathed.  These short-term fixes at the expense of long-term education have already caught up to us.  Making more of the same mistakes will just increase the gap between the overall quality of our education and that of other nations.  Many Sachem residents won't care, until they notice that the low education standards have decreased the quality of life around them.

So this is why I'm shaking my head at the Patch video, as I watch the first woman to speak get it so right and then have to listen to idiotic comments from the second about why we should have respect for the notion that athletics are as important as academics.  Fuck that.  They're not, and yet we already behave as if athletics are not just equal, but a priority over academics.  Academic clubs have already been relegated to the role of second fiddle.  If it were otherwise, you'd have the sports boosters fully and privately funding the expensive equipment, insurance, transportation and other costly line items, instead of having parents have to make tough decisions about where their child should attend kindergarten three mere months before school starts.