My experience in my 1.5 years of dealing with CSD with two children is that while there have been and still are issues with communication at all levels of administration (a minor example being the inexplicable language of the superintendent in the letter about school hours), there have also been areas where there has been exceptional improvement (Clairemont, for one). I am as active as my time allows, and I believe–both from feedback and from observation–that the input of parents (at least at Clairemont; I can’t speak for other schools) is heard and considered.

For my part, I do my best to keep informed, to read between the lines and, above all, to remain civil. If I have an issue, I may whine about it to a friend, but when it comes to time to discuss it publicly, I am not only polite–I also work hard to consider why the people on the other side of the table are acting as they are. There has been more than one occasion when I was certain that the less-than-stellar demeanor of a school administrator was the result of too many parents being unreasonable and not thinking of the student community as a whole when they spoke.

My brother is a school principal. He sent me this after I told him about parents getting out of control over their kids not getting into the gifted program: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUEuoV9ZzpI&NR=1

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