Read on Twitter
CW: racism
I’ve been sitting on this for a few days, mostly because I didn’t know how to put my feelings about it into words or whether or not to share.
But I’ve started the process of looking into local schools for Thing 1 and HOO BOY did this not go the way I thought it would.
I’ve been sitting on this for a few days, mostly because I didn’t know how to put my feelings about it into words or whether or not to share.
But I’ve started the process of looking into local schools for Thing 1 and HOO BOY did this not go the way I thought it would.
Husbo and I were always of the opinion that our kids would go to a public primary school. Our local primary school, X public, is an old building not 3 mins’ walk from our house.
Whenever we mentioned X public to mums on the playground, daycare educators, they looked horrified
Whenever we mentioned X public to mums on the playground, daycare educators, they looked horrified
They used words like ‘rough’, ‘incompetent’, ‘awful’ in a nebulous sort of way but were never able to give me a concrete reason about what exactly as wrong. Their NAPLAN growth was awesome, so the educators were obviously competent but I wanted to know what was wrong, not right
Anyway, I went on my local area parenting FB page and asked: ‘I’m in area for X public, but have heard non-specific bad things. What’s the go?’
Immediately the comments filled up with mums asking if they could DM me.
Shit, I thought. Something must be terribly wrong
Immediately the comments filled up with mums asking if they could DM me.
Shit, I thought. Something must be terribly wrong
And it was, but not how I thought.
One mum had worked at Xpublic as learning support and said there was a total lack of professionalism there overall. She suggested applying out of area at Y primary where she worked. Cool. Thanks Mum 1!
One mum had worked at Xpublic as learning support and said there was a total lack of professionalism there overall. She suggested applying out of area at Y primary where she worked. Cool. Thanks Mum 1!
Then I heard from Mums 2, 3 and 4. All said that X public was a great school if you wanted your kids to learn Arabic haha wink wink but at least there’s the local Catholic school amirite?!
Wait till they hear they have Christianity in the Middle East and Jesus was brown!
Wait till they hear they have Christianity in the Middle East and Jesus was brown!
Then I got an email from a teacher. Ms Teacher bigged up the school, the teachers, the curriculum like god wrote it. She said nowhere had she worked with more passionate, innovative educators. This seemed to match the NAPLAN data from the my schools website
She sang the whole entire schools praises for like 3 screens and asserted that the only reason she hadn’t sent her own kids to that school was because a ‘certain race was over represented and I don’t want my kids to feel like minority’s in their own country’
But not to worry! Now that the suburb was getting more expensive to live in I ‘surely wouldn’t have that problem’ when Thing 1 started
BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH
Ms Teacher was very clearly white, so it wasn’t an over representation of white kids she was scared of.
Then I looked back at Mum 1’s profile, the learning support lady who’d called the school ‘unprofessional’
She was wearing a hijab. And probably worked with Teacher 1
Then I looked back at Mum 1’s profile, the learning support lady who’d called the school ‘unprofessional’
She was wearing a hijab. And probably worked with Teacher 1
See where I’m going here?
Anyway look long story short I visited the school and it was lovely. The principal said hi, the students were doing PE and having a rad time. My boys are going there- both of them- and I’m going on the P&C.
Ms Teacher better watch herself
Ms Teacher better watch herself
I’m getting many comments saying folks saw this coming. I honestly didn’t. White mums were so ready to talk racist shit in my DM’s despite never having met me before. And that teacher? Fuck me dead! How’s she teaching kids of colour if she thinks they’re beneath her white ones?
Moral of the story: fuck racists. The end 
