Check out this email some stranger sent me attempting to defend Cleveland Public Schools. Apparantly she was responding to something I wrote on an e-list regarding how shabby the education at Cleveland Public Schools is. Although this person has no clue about my experience with Cleveland Public Schools and it’s kind of rambling, I found this to be an amusing email.

Date: Thu, 4 Jul 2002 20:56:49 -0700 (PDT)
From: “XXXXXXXX”
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Subject: Cleveland? Horrid?
To: trulastar@yahoo.com

Okay….first off, Cleveland itself has had it’s share of ridicule as far as the schooling goes. I am here to defend that. For one, it’s not the teachers themselves who are not qualified and who do not care. The Cleveland school system as a whole has come a very far, and is continuing to progress, the students are doing an excellent job in their community and excelling in academics, I find it very SAD that you being a Cleveland native would have the audacity to belittle the school system of which you arose from!As soon as the public system in Cleveland finishes their remodling, watch and see which percentage of suburbia will migrate back into the city.

I too am a Cleveland native, and am a Black Female, so of course, I’ve done my share of explaining that I am qualified, and I do speak correct English. You should try and be very careful in how you voice (type) your opinions, they can be quite insulting. And Sure, while most of the white population has left Cleveland to assure their kids “good” education, removing your children and placing them in suburbia may curve the “bad” exposure, but in the long run, you’re children might be highly inadequate when it comes to dealing with people from different backgrounds, especially if your children are mixed, they might find (as many of you have voiced) your child doesn’t know how to react with the other side of their race.

The children in most public schools come with the attitude to not learn, so how can a teacher do her/his job when teens act like this? THE PARENTS need to insure that school is indeed valuable, and the education is important. I just ask, that next time you care to insult a metro city, you not let Cleveland slip through your mouth, because personally, if you aren’t giving back to what Cleveland has lost, you have no right to comment.

I do understand that you want to insure your kids a good chance at success, and they will I’m sure, but don’t forget to expose your children, please, being biracial is hard enough, but being biracial and unaware is even worst, I’ve seen it, it tears children up inside as children, and does an even worst job as adults.

My first response: Ok, whatever.

But then I figured, this person probably spent some time working up the nerve to ‘tell me off’ about my speaking the truth about Cleveland Public Schools, so I decided that she deserved a response. Here is what I emailed back to her:

Received: from [XX.XX.XX.XXX] by webXXXXXX.mail.yahoo.com via HTTP; Fri, 05 Jul 2002 00:47:00 PDT
Date: Fri, 5 Jul 2002 00:47:00 -0700 (PDT)
From: “Trula”
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Subject: Re: Cleveland? Horrid?
To: “XXXXXXXXXXXX”
In-Reply-To:

I am not a product of Cleveland Public Schools, you are mistaken. I grew up in Cincinnati and attended a very good college preparatory public elementary school, as well as a nationally recognized public high school.

I gave Cleveland Public Scools a chance, 4 years of chances at my daughter’s expense. Do you know that when she was in the fourth grade, her homework consisted of first grade math problems such as 1+1? 2+2? Besides that, the four years she was in Cleveland Public Schools I witnessed over and over again a distinct neglect in the nuturance of black male children. I saw smart black boys ignored by both black and white teachers, and simple acts of normal childhood misbehavior swiftly punished. Several of my friends with black sons were encouraged to have their sons evaluated for ADD and put on ‘medication’.

My husband and I made the decision to pull our daughter out of Cleveland Public Schools after fourth grade. We put her in an excellent private school for fifth grade, where she thrived. In that environment she not only caught up to grade level but surpassed it. Given that we did not want our next child, my oldest son, to be undereducated for several years as well as being treated like a mini-criminal, we were faced with two choices: private school or move to the suburbs. We are not a rich family. Moving was the best alternative for my family.

My daughter will be entering 8th grade in the fall. This past year she won the spelling bee for her school and placed runner-up in the Regional Competition. She was recognized in the Science Fair. This summer she is currently studying French and African History. My oldest son is entering second grade, and has scored above average in all standardized testing. His summer project is Astronomy and learning Basic Animation. My youngest son, like my older two children, has begun reading this year at the age of four, and attends a local pre-school which co-operates with the public school for kindergarten readiness. His project this summer is the Library Book Club.

True enough, a large part of my children’s achievement is due to the education and nurturance they receive at home. But being in a school environment where their intellect is recognized and the teachers are not ‘teaching to the lowest common denominator’ (which is something more than one Cleveland Public Schools teacher told me in response to my query as to why they weren’t teaching at grade level) makes a huge difference in how my daughter perceives herself and her education.

I will not heed your instruction to not criticize, as you do not have the right to determine where and how my children will be educated. Nor do you understand the problems and years of hassle I went through trying to stay positive about Cleveland Public Schools and trying to work with that system. If you have children, by all means, place them in Cleveland Public Schools. Best of luck to you.

Trula

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