So my oldest son is starting high school in the fall, and this will be our first experience dealing with public schools. We were disappointed to learn that the school didn\u2019t offer German, and were hoping to make some kind of study-online arranagements, and we even found an online option, where the program works directly with a teacher at the school to ensure that the class is recorded on the student\u2019s transcripts. I had a couple conversations with the department head at the high school, and yesterday, at an Information Night found out that official District Policy is going to be a roadblock. <\/p>\n
What I was told was this: if my son were interested in a foreign language that the school district didn\u2019t offer, the district would help find an online\/independent study\/alternative solution. But because German is offered at one of the other high schools, and my son could, in principle, attend the class there, they can\u2019t help us. Never mind that it doesn\u2019t make sense to drive my kid 15 minutes one way to this other high school, and likely miss class time for another class due to the drive time and the improbability of coordinating schedules, much less the fact that \u2014 gee, I do<\/i> have a job and can\u2019t play chauffeur(even though I had already told him that I work from home so I suspect he didn\u2019t consider that as a \u201creal job\u201d and a true impediment). He cited the fact that two students do this already, which is great for them but doesn\u2019t make this any more possible for us. <\/p>\n
When I countered that this policy simply doesn\u2019t make sense, he started sputtering about \u201coutsourcing\u201d \u2014 and it\u2019s not fair to \u201coutsource\u201d classes outside the district. And afterwards, I put 2 and 2 together: the only way this makes sense is if this isn\u2019t a district policy but driven by union contracts \u2014 that a district teacher has a \u201cright\u201d to that student and those contact hours, and fear that the school district would \u201coutsource\u201d a program rather than hire a teacher for it mandates a policy that\u2019s blind to particular students\u2019 needs, putting the priorities of the union ahead of students. <\/p>\n
And if that\u2019s the case, then we likely are at a dead end. The only question that remains is whether, if my son continues to study German outside of school, a college would \u201ccount\u201d that as the required high school foreign language study, or whether college admissions are equally blind to individual students\u2019 circumstances. <\/p>\n
UPDATE: <\/p>\n