I's be ejumacated!

That's South Cackalackian for, "I am an educated and informed individual." Ok. I made it up. Still, I run across people EVERY day that make me wonder if this kind of vernacular is more common than not. And in a state that ranks....50th! out of 50 for quality of education, well, you can't help but wonder if that statistic is in any way linked to the number of trailer parks along I-26.

Needless to say, I'm worried about raising and educating my children here. Luckily, they are both too young to be in school yet which buys me some time, but in a matter of years, I'll be faced with the daunting task of finding a school in which to enroll them. It just so happens that we live in one of the two top ranked school districts in the state. But like I said, SC ranks 50th out of the 50 states for quality of education, so even if you are in the top two school districts, how good could that really be?!? One wonders.

So I'm grappling with the thought of private school vs. public. And after doing a little research, I've realized that my options are limited to a variety of VERY Baptist, non-denominational Christian, or fundamentalist Christian schools or public school. Hmmm....I think I know now why so many of the New England transplants down here home school their kids. I'm just not sure I'm up to that task. Besides, I'm a big fan of kids being in a school environment and learning how to socialize with their peers....but at what cost?

I do feel obligated to mention that if we had stayed in New York City, we would've had the same problem since the public school system there is deplorable, not to mention unsafe in many schools. However, the private school options would've been a bit more diverse and well-rounded. But of course, in order to afford any of them, I probably would've had to sell a kidney on the black market.....and then part of my liver....and maybe an arm eventually. So moving to a part of the country where the cost of living is more affordable just made sense. I just wish that there were more private schools here without any religious affiliation. I have nothing against religiously oriented schools, I just feel strongly that my husband and I should be taking care of that, not strangers.

Like I said, my kids are young, so I have some time to figure it all out. But as far as education goes, I think Dorothy said it best, "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore...." Heck, we're not in New Mexico, West Virginia, or Alabama either. We're in South Cackalackie.....the 50th best state for quality education in this great land of ours.