Whitney Elementary School PTO: At Risk Kids

Reading my O Magazine (Oprah) today, something struck me, not hard, but it left an impression. There was a piece with results of a project kicked off in the December issue, "Gifts that Made a Difference." There were organizations featured to which O Readers could donate and each organization had a specific cause like books to Africa, musical instruments to kids, trees to Alabama to help recover from the 2011 tornadoes but the one that caught my eye were the 1,333 field trips made possible for high risk youth by donations to createnow.org.

I have absolutely no quibble with these organizations or these donations and Lord, I am on my knees praying Oprah never sees this nor takes offense. Each of these foundations provides wonderful services. Each of these individual groups working together makes the world a better, safer, nicer and friendlier place. We should all take note of people who donate time, energy and money for any cause they believe will make a positive difference.

I don't have a problem with these organizations or what they do I'm bewildered by how we put kids into a box labeled "at risk".

Isn't every kid at risk?

At risk of drugs. At risk of abuse. At risk of hunger. At risk of homicide. At risk of bullying. At risk of suicide. At risk of illiteracy. At risk of teasing. At risk of illness. At risk of teen pregnancy. At risk of becoming a crime victim. At risk of becoming a criminal. At risk of falling through the cracks. At risk of poverty.

Maybe I have just been listening to too much Lady Gaga; Praise Be Girlfriend, SING IT! www.bornthiswayfoundation.org.

But...what if we changed the equation? What if our biggest fear was that our kids were at risk of becoming obnoxiously more successful than us? At risk of becoming so much smarter? At risk of writing the great American novel and then repeating that success shamelessly young?

I just paid my income taxes. Today. I put my envelope in the blue mailbox and kissed my money goodbye. I wish I could say it stinks, it sucks, I'm outraged! But I'm not. It's just money and really, it's not as though I spent the money buying another pair of shoes I don't need. I sent the money off to pay for Idaho schools and roads. If they had had a "donate $5 for Idaho schools," I would have sent $5.

There is an election March 13, 2012, this Tuesday, for the Boise Schools Supplemental Levy. If you vote "Yes" it will raise your property taxes by about $7 per month BUT it will maintain the same funding in Boise Schools as we have right now (no more, no less). If you vote "No" the Boise School district will have no choice but to eliminate teacher jobs and student programs.

If you vote YES! you can keep class sizes small with teachers involved and engaged in your child's educational progress.

If you vote no all of our kids are at risk.