I also feel defensive for bailing on public school! I really do think our school IS a good school for many kids, but it doesn't work at all for our kid. And neither DH or I are very strong at political type advocacy. We'd be much better at homeschooling than we would be at advocating full time.
I think for me when I am guilty of being critical of homeschoolers (which I confess I am in my own community--not you guys) it is often because they parrot all the cliched lines about how bad public schools are for kids without ever giviing them a chance. Whereas, I think that public schools are amazing. Free education for everyone--wow!! We shouldn't take that for granted; it's part of what makes America great and lots of countries do not have it. Maybe it needs some minor or major tweeking, but it is still such a fabulous thing that I want to support it in any way I can. For us that has meant many hours of volunteering at the school; it also means that DS's presence there is bringing in funding and that by being a good role model for others he is part of the larger community. So that's where I get critical, when i think that people are pulling kids out without considering that there are larger social issues at stake. And some days when I see lots of HS parents at the library and nobody volunteering at my son's school, I do get grumpy about it!
But, Kimck, that is NOT you!!!! You are trying it. You do understand what the school is going through. You do care about the other kids at your local school. And, I would suspect that the others on the board have the same approach to kimck. And even if your child isn't in PS this year, I know you are still supportive of PS in general.
Does it work to say, "Well, we tried PS adn there were some things that were really great about it. There were some great teachers etc etc. But in the end, it just wasn't a good fit for us. Maybe when DS is a bit older, we'd like to try it again." Just a thought....
