Fun And Games In The Public Schools

[des]

Yesterday and today, I have spent hours filling out forms to work for the public schools here. There have been piles and piles and piles of paper work (some hint of the paper work to come I suppose). They sit us in a room and hand us stuff to fill in and tell us about it. They are quite upbeat as though this was the greatest and most important stuff you can imagine. Very few of the teachers seem as cynical as I do though, though I can't say that any of them look very happy. But all the bureaucrats seem as happy as can be. The more paper they give us, the happier they look. It's very curious.

 

Funniest thing was the "physical". We go to a building called "Occupational Health" in a school built sometime during the Spanish conquest of the New World (or so it seems).

There are no directions though this is one of numerous little trailers (quite the rage out here), so I find someone and she and I wander about for awhile. Then we find our trailer and go sit down. They give us a form to fill out, after answering a questionaire of health questions I see a nurse practitioner (I think, as she is dressed like a nurse). She is also terribly cheerful. She asks two questions. I am finished, passing the "physical". (This wasn't quite as wierd as the "no touch" physical I had for the Chicago Board of Ed. This involved a doctor who did an exam involving anythnig that didn't involve physical touch. At one pt., he asks if I had any lumps in my breast. Bizarre.In retrospect I wouldn't have wanted him touching me. ;-)) Quite a contrast with private schools I worked for that required full physicals (either unpaid from your own doctor or paid for by a doctor contracted by the school) and tb tests or chest x-rays from public health.

 

We are now appropriately fingerprinted, contracted out, licensed checked and rechecked, etc. etc. MOOOOOOO.

 

I'm wondering if this amazing cheerfulness will continue. Inservices start Monday and the kids start the 11th.

 

 

--des

[Cynthia]

Hilarious Des! Sometimes you've just got to go with the (MOOOOO) flow... eat mor C'ken :>

 

The parental side is fun too. Lots of repetitive info, year after year, form after form. It's hard to write it all down 10 times knowing that they will be spending scarce money to have someone key in EACH FORM SEPARATELY!!!!!

 

Perhaps my grandkids will just go to terminals to register.... or the chips implanted at birth for national security will register them automatically as they walk into the school. It'll decrease skipping... obviously worth it

 

Good luck with the job!!! You'll be teriffic!

[des]

I had another memorable experience working in a public school system (Kansas City I think). Anyway the class closed due to low enrollment, so I ended up in the main office, and was, for a brief time anyway, the highest paid collater in the state! :-)

Anyway other duties were filing, etc. The most interesting one included a requisition for materials. Some teacher had asked for materials and it was one of those things where the company didn't have everything. So I asked what to do. "Oh just put it in this file" (it wasn't circular but I could tell it didnt' go to anywhere.) "Shouldn't we just try to fill it with what the company has?" "Put it in this file." "Why?" "we can't fill partial orders". "Can't we return it to the school to redo it?" "Put it in the file." SO NOW I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THOSE ORDERS THAT JUST DISSAPPEARED!!!

 

Fortunately I got a position after awhile. WHEW!

 

 

BTW, Cynthia, I'm not sure *anybody* reads any of this. At least I got that feeling. So you may be answering thousands of questions, and at least after things like "free lunch or no" and other essentials nothign else is looked at.

 

I'm zooming in on the cheerfulness factor. It might be a characteristic out here. I certainly did not see it at all in Chicago or anywhere else.

 

 

--des

Edited August 6, 2005 by des