I went to Bailey. For five years middle to high school. There ain't a damn thing weird or creepy about it. It's just a school. That top third floor tower was my French class. Now, it would get too cold up there and we'd be forced down to the library in winter but it was never creepy. There's a plaque inside, it was built as a school, never used for anything other than a school. It's architecturally interesting, but it is not haunted and never was and nothing weird or creepy or even remotely interesting ever happened there. Well, we did get a visit from Clinton when he was running for president but other than that it is a very normal school.

When I was there they went from being a 7th to 12th grade school to being a 6th to 12th grade school. We didn't have room for every one. Some of the sixth graders didn't have lockers for quite some time. Our football team always sucked pretty hard but we kicked ass in girls track. The pic you have up there when I was there those doors weren't used a lot but we would gather around early before the bell rang and chatted. The doors in the pic lead to the office at least when I was there. You go in there and immediately to your left was the offices. But we also used to stand on those big "arms" of stone where the statues are and smoke. Looking at that pic the windows directly to the right were my computer class. Again, nothing odd or sinister. You may want to look up more about the architecture. You will find that style has been useful in evoking creepiness for many years, but it is just the style, if you ever went in the place you;'d see just how ordinary it really is. In fact, the only thing extraordinary about it was that for a time when I first went there from Oak Forest in South Jackson it was the sort of school you could go at your own pace at.

Lorena Bobbitt, really? You expected to get traction with that?

This is officially the stupidest post I have ever read here.

You don't have to, you can listen to the audio afterwards but were still gonna need people who want to participate somehow.

This is the sort of thing that the Secular Coalition is trying to help us with. This is why they are trying to set up chapters in states like Mississippi. If anyone's interested the next conference call is Oct 17th at 2pm our time. So far it's been only me on the line, but it's gonna take more than me to do this stuff so you guys come on out and see what we can get going!

@Snowbrush. We have a few good ones here. Wyatt Waters' wife Vicki taught me English in 9th grade. No better guide through Shakespeare has been seen. But even the good ones are so strangled by the system they can't do their thing. I also had the overly religious teacher. Biology, ninth grade, certainly not a class for religion to be brought in.

On the topic and less personal what's wrong with our schools is systemic. If you read about the history of them they were never formed with a mandate to really educate us so much as to prepare us to work. If we really wanted schools that serve us and not those who are now known as the 1% we need to change everything about the way we run them. We need smaller teacher to student ratios, we need more choice, we need less variations in standards and we need to get capitalism out of schools.

This is a huge topic that I could write reams on. And I have. Here is a small sampling of what I've written: http://mwillett.org/Politics/American-assholes.ht... http://dogsmycopilot.wordpress.com/2010/08/28/ame...
But if one wants to really get a grip on what the deal is with our school system and why it fails in so many ways one needs to tackle the works of John Taylor Gatto and watch documentaries like Waiting For Superman. I also highly recommend Howard Zinn's a People's History, Diane McGuinness's Why Our Children Can't Read, and Lies My Teacher Told Me by Loewen touches on it as well.
It's a complex topic with many parts. Such as the fact that we fund schools locally, which leaves poor areas behind. The worse the school gets the more people move out and the schools get worse, it's a cycle. But then there is also the publishing industry, which caters to the largest market which happens to include Texas which means everyone ends up with rotten books with right wing leanings. And the battle between phonics and whole word instruction, which isn't really a battle we all know what works it's just that whole word is easier and what's popular. Then you have the sad fact that for many school is a prison and a pipeline to prison. We have no other choices for kids, there are no longer things like apprenticeships. This whole range of ideas is too much for one blog post but each and every piece of this enormous puzzle is important. So please study up on it if you are a parent. i know it's a lot believe me I know. I've been on it for 18 years now. But every bit of effort you put in is worth it, we have generations behind us that will be relying on us to save them from this wad of crap and there is nothing worth investing in more than education. Nothing.

It ought to break your heart. It ought to break your heart to the point that you can't do it to her. You know better. You know it's not right. You know that what you are offering her in school isn't a real education that is guided by her passions and interests but indoctrination into a cult of capitalism and heartlessness and robotic obedience that will if she's lucky only serve to demonstrate that the world is not about doing what you love but what you are told and if she's not lucky- well- we know what happens to those students.

Why any rational aware parent would send their child to school is beyond me. I sent mine to kindergarten too, for about five minutes. Because the minute you see what it is you know better. You know it in your heart, that's why you are heartbroken over it. There are so many of us non-religious who homeschool. Reach out for resources and information. Do not be intimidated and do not let anyone tell you you can't do it. I've seen single parents do it, I've seen grandparents do it, I do it on a salary so small we aren't even at the poverty level for a family our size. You know I'm here for you if you need me, Laurie Bertram @smartstatistic on Twitter is also a lefty homeschooler from here in Mississippi who would be happy to talk to you I'm sure. Please don't let lack of information make school a necessary default for your child. Do what your heart tells you is right no matter what that may be. Mine are 15 and 17 now and the only mistakes I ever made were the times I listened to what society says is right instead of what I felt was right.

What are your choices? Why you have the same choice parents have made for generations- homeschool.

I really don't understand what's not to understand. The reason our schools suck is that they are used by people who either don't care or are lazy or are simply don't have the IQ to do any better. The last group I feel bad for and I wish they would reach out for resources and I wish the state would help them more. But the other two groups- I really don't care to hear it. Homeschooling our kids has been hard, we do without a lot, but it's what was right. And if I can do it on a poverty level income i really do not have any comprehension why people who can afford things like private school have any excuses.

If you are sending your child to public school you are simply wrong. There's no two ways about it. Anyone who cares and has knowledge would not do it. I grew up in JPS I know exactly what kind of piss poor education these kids get. School is a prison pipeline at worst, a state employed babysitting service at best.

I may sound harsh but what's really harsh is sitting back and letting your kids get screwed. I have never had respect for the system. Education is not schooling. In fact real education is the opposite of what goes on in schools. Some people need to read some John Taylor Gatto and refresh their memories as to what schooling is really for. Schooling is for indoctrination of what the state and the businesses who run it need in an employee- hence the popularity of uniforms. It's not there for you or your children or your family. It's there to serve them, to keep your kids in line with the status quo, to teach them to be good little non-critical thinking robots. Break the chains people.

It was quite an interesting and informative call. I couldn't tell if I was the only person on the line but I was the only person who introduced myself. I hope if anyone is interested you will go to the site. Kelly, the nice young lady who hosted the conference call, said it would be on the web site for all to hear. The next one is Sept. 19th at 2 pm our time. (Aug was skipped due to vacations and whatnot, I think she said)

She also said they do a national call so check the site for more info if you want to get involved. I think it's going to be fun, she had a list of bills she was interested in us moving on and I hope to get involved as things get started.
My recent post The Dachsonian Captivity – day 7 or 8

You will be subject to vandalism. We have been repeatedly. It got to the point where the cops basically out and out blamed us for having the bumper sticker on there. We have been vandalized repeatedly, had our car actually stolen repeatedly, and at one point we had a dead cat thrown on our porch. I shit you not.

If you show what you are expect repercussions, it's that simple.