No wonder we have trouble keeping kids in school…

when we won’t let them in to begin with.

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s talk about school for a second.  Specifically, public education.  Now, I’m sure you’ve all heard about how terrible public schools are in America (incidentally, word on the street is that the U.S. still has the best Colleges and Universities, but I digress).  You’re all familiar with those attempts to make public schools better, to teach kids what they need to know.  And so forth, and so on.

But I’m not here to talk about how to make schools better.  I’m here to talk about something which is, in my opinion, far more serious, although it affects a much smaller portion of the population.  I’m here, to use a terrible pun, to talk about a child who is, in fact, being left behind.

I’m here to talk about a kid by the name of Jeff.

Jeff is a 14 year old boy currently living with his legal guardian in Montgomery County, Maryland.  Astonishingly enough for a boy his age, he actually wants to attend school.  He, unfortunately, cannot.

What.

Now, let’s go over a few facts here:

• The child is a U.S. citizen – born in California.
• The child lives with his court appointed legal guardian.
• The legal guardian is a resident of Montgomery County.
• On August 25, 2008, Superintendent Weast wrote a memorandum to the Board of Education explaining his basis for denying this child a free public education.
• On September 22, 2008, the Board of Education (President Nancy Navarro) in an unanimous decision voted to affirm the decision of the Superintendent.

(Source: Parents Coalition of Montgomery County, Maryland)

It seems, at least to me, that this kid is being denied the public education to which he is entitled!  Entitled, hell, it is mandated by Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (“Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory.”), and by Maryland State Law (“Except as otherwise provided in this section, each child who resides in this State and is 5 years old or older and under 16 shall attend a public school regularly during the entire school year unless the child is otherwise receiving regular, thorough instruction during the school year in the studies usually taught in the public schools to children of the same age.”).

Well then.  Seems like we have ourselves a problem here, doesn’t it?

Now, the Maryland County Public School System has, it seems, claimed that he is “an ‘international student’ who is only here for one reason: a free education in America,” and demand that he pays $12,000 dollars a year in tuition.

Let me repeat that:  An American citizen born in America, who has lived outside the country for less than 3 yeas, is registered as a resident of the county in which he lives, and is currently living with his legal guardian, is being denied grade school education based on some ridiculous perception of a technicality.

There’s something wrong here.

There is, however, some good news.  It seems that the Maryland Governor’s office is looking into the issue.  Here’s hoping for a speedy (and just) resolution to the matter.

And there you have it.

Infodump time: Related articles and such, The original Blog post

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Tags: Education, Injustice, Maryland County Public Schools, Politics