I am a B.C. lawyer, a parent of children in the public school system, a taxpayer and a voter. I write today to express my frustration with respect to the start of the 2014-2015 school year.
My 16-year old son is starting Grade 12. My younger son is starting Grade 9. We also have two older children who have already graduated and gone on to university.
As a family, we decided several years ago to stay within the public school system so our children could go to school in our neighborhood and so that we could direct our collective family energies into assisting and bettering our school community.
However, now I am questioning the wisdom of that decision. We are considering removing our youngest son from public school to permit him to finish high school in an atmosphere less hostile and acrimonious.
This dispute is not unlike a typical family law situation, where both parents stridently claim to be protecting their children, while it is the children (pawns used for power play) who ultimately pay the personal costs of the conflict.
Get over yourselves, get back to the negotiating table, look hard at the evidence, make this whole process transparent and above all, get the schools back in session. Our kids deserve better than this.