Guess what else I know nothing about?

Education.

That's right. My mom raised me to value it. I completed 13 years primary/secondary. I even went on to finish my Bachelors in Sociology and Written Communications--although, to be fair, a bachelors degree seemed pretty much mandatory in this day and age. I didn't love education in those 17-plus years of memorizing, studying and worry about the future. I made education a priority because my mom wanted me to. Yep, I'd love to say that at 17 I was more wise. I wasn't.

I take that back. I was wise enough at 17 to know college was my way out of working at McDonald's permanently. I had nightmares about becoming a "lifer." I really did. Once I had a dream that I came into McDonald's to work and my manager informed me I hadn't passed the ACT, and I'd have to occupy a cot in the attic of McDonald's. I woke up screaming...my mom even remembers it. She also remembers me waking her up with dreams where I was screaming "Quarter Pounder with cheese NO ONION"...thank goodness those days are over.


Although, now my worry has changed its focal point.

Now I worry about a potential daughter and where she will go to school. I worry I will put her in the wrong school. I have become extremely, and I mean completely brutal in my analysis of school administrator's responses to my inquiries. Rude response? Eliminated. I can't have my daughter being treated that way.

As a sociology major at a private, liberal college, I also struggle with comparing schools in my neighborhood. The schools with the highest rates of poverty have the lowest test scores but the highest "diversity" scores. On the other hand, the schools with the lower poverty rates have the better test scores but the lowest diversity. Although I loathe diversity as a word, I value its concept. All I want is a school where my child can learn and receive the attention necessary to succeed--to fifth grade, anyway. I want her to feel like she belongs. But my upbringing and liberal college days make me feel snobby for dismissing the schools with poor test scores.


So I've guiltily abandoned public education temporarily because I learned that the City of Minneapolis doesn't give its parents a choice in where their children are placed mid-year. I've learned what I thought I would have control over, I don't.

You have to send your kid where ever there is room in a Minneapolis school within busing routes from your home. I hate to say, in our neighborhood, that's the poor test score schools where I fear our daughter wouldn't receive attention she needs because her needs would pale in comparison with her peers.

We have an interview with the principal of a private K-8 school just to see what that's about. It seems more in line with what we want: a somewhat sheltered environment where Rosie could grow and adjust and stay put for a few years. This kid will need some stability. If she hates it, next year we can evaluate public schools again. In fact, we need to continue our tours because we have send the district our placement cards no later than January 31 for the 2011 school year.

Yet, I have no idea about any of this and I've never felt less certain about anything except this strange feeling within me telling me what's right for a child I've never met. Crazy.