Ah, school.  On this day last year I went on a bit of a rant about the school textbook situation.  Unfortunately I didn't have enough personal time to devote to looking into that situation as I wanted to, but maybe at some point in the future I will.  This year I'm not feeling too good about the whole schedule thing, but before I get into it I want to emphasize that I'm really not trying to give the folks at school who are dealing with this mess a hard time.  I can only imagine how complex this whole process is and I'm certain they've been burning the midnight oil trying to get it all figured out. 

Here's the deal: the school system has decided that they want all the schools on the same kind of schedule, so our kids' high school had to change how classes are scheduled.  I'd provide details if I understood them, but let's just say the change has caused some problems.  To wit:

• Last spring when my oldest did his schedule with his counselor he signed up for an economics class at the Career Center.  A week or two ago he got a call from his counselor saying that with the new scheduling system his econ class was impossible to fit into his schedule so he needed to pick another class.  From the limited options he was able to get…Shakespeare. If you're looking for an association between the two I guess you could say that one's the dismal science and the other's the dismal art.  Even worse, that's just for one semester.  The other semester he's going to be doing something like assisting people in the office just so he can get a credit. 
• We got a letter from the school system saying that because of the scheduling headaches the kids wouldn't get their schedules until they showed up at the open house tonight.  Given what we've already seen happen to our son's schedule I'm interested to see what happens to our daughter's schedule.  I will NOT be surprised if we have a nasty surprise or two.
• Speaking of surprises, I just got this email alert from West Forsyth H.S.: "This message is to the parents of students who have classes at West Forsyth and the Career Center.  Students should be aware that the schedules they picked up at the Career Center's Open House last night may not be accurate. We are asking our students to pick up their West Forsyth schedule at tonight's Open House before questioning their assigned classes. Thank you!"  In a way I guess you could say our son losing his one Career Center class was a lucky break.
• On the other hand the booster club is on top of things.  The same day we got the letter about the schedule snafu we also received a fundraising solicitation for all things athletic at the school.  I have no problem with that, but it's a little ironic that while all the students are wandering around thinking they might end up in underwater basket weaving the jocks can rest assured that the uniforms will be shiny and the grass extra green.

You know what? Maybe this isn't so bad after all. The kids are getting a glimpse at how the real world works. You know, the mid-managers (principals, counselors and teachers) get to implement the super-duper plan handed down by upper management (school administrators) and then deal with the customers (students and parents) screaming at them for screwing everything up.  Another lesson is that no matter how well you plan, something invariably goes wrong and you have to adjust.   Finally, unless you want to pony up for private school or go the home schooling route then you have to pretty much abide by what "the man" (government/school) tells you to do. If that means trading in Keynes for the Bard then that's what you have to do. Welcome to life, kids.