Standard school attire: Rearranging the deck chairs, Part II

NOTE: Contact school board members today. Standard School Attire will be considered at the April 10 school board meeting.

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So last year, we had to fight off an attempt to "balance" the public schools' calendar. Basically, that means shortening summer break and inserting additional breaks during the year. Now, a Metro Schools committee is recommending "Standard School Attire." Both efforts have been promoted by those claiming that they will increase student achievement. Sadly, the research bears that out on neither point.

First off, to explain the doublespeak: Metro can't implement a "uniform" policy unless it provides funding for low-income families to purchase the uniform. Thus, we're talking about "Standard School Attire." As the proposed Metro policy is written, that's a legal technicality only; the proposed policy is as restrictive as any uniform policy you might write.

Metro began considering SSA in the fall, when Dr. Pedro Garcia, Metro Schools director, appointed a committee of principals, including one principal whose school already has adopted standard attire, to consider a district-wide policy. Only this year were parent representatives and a student added to the group, but by that point, much of the group's work was done, and conclusions drawn.

The committee's restrictive plan for standard school attire was released in March:

• AFTER it conducted community meetings to promote the concept of SSA
• AFTER a parent survey was conducted, to determine family support of SSA

Say what? They held meetings and took a parent survey, with no one knowing what the final product would look like?? Yep.

Of course, this committee was fairly balanced in its actual research: The February PowerPoint presentation it made to the Metro school board details very clearly the significant research proving that school uniforms have no effect on student behavior and achievement. The same presentation offers many individual testimonials and much anecdotal evidence that uniforms make schools better.

Given that, why the conclusion for SSA? You got me there. Yet at the end of March, the committee released its proposed policy. If you haven't read this six-page document, stop now and read it before you go any further. It is a uniform policy in all but name.

And in particular, it seems girls will be more restricted in their dress. While they can wear capris, shorts, skirts and pants, the kinds of styles allowed are traditional male styles and girls won't be able to wear many feminine outfits, never mind the latest fashion.

Who cares, you say? Students aren't in school for a fashion show, but instead to learn. Exactly! Let's teach students how to make wise decisions. With this policy, we're telling them they can't be trusted to choose for themselves, and that their personal style is of little value in the educational arena.

Of significant concern to me is the one-time cost to families to prepare for the implementation of this policy, should it pass. I'm sure many families are like mine, and they pick up clothing items up one or two at a time, when something goes on sale. I can't afford to go out and buy my daughter a new wardrobe all at once. Even though she's growing and changing sizes, we carefully budget for such purchases. This policy would be a significant burden to many poor and middle-class families. By the way, the Metro uniform committee suggests that local nonprofits will help cover this cost. Well, OK, and what will they have to stop doing in order to purchase uniforms for thousands of Metro students? I'm unaware of any local nonprofit with lots of extra cash sitting around, just waiting for a problem to come along.

But still, if SSA affected behavior. If it improved achievement. We'd have something worth talking about, wouldn't we? I'm perfectly safe in saying that the students who violate the current dress code will violate a new one, and the students who manage to adhere to Metro's existing dress code—which doesn't allow sloppy or revealing attire—will follow a new one, too. Why are we talking about punishing students who are already doing the right thing?

And yes, I regard this proposed dress code as punishment. While school uniforms have been found to be constitutional, please don't suppose that that's because students have no rights of free expression. In fact, they do, though they are more limited than adults' rights.

One of the Supreme Court's most famous free-speech cases—Tinker v. Des Moines School District—concerned a high-school protest of the Vietnam War; students sued after being told they could not wear black armbands to class to signify their opposition to the war. [The students won.] Metro's proposed policy is so restrictive that I could foresee several items which could open the school district to legal challenges, which students would have a chance of winning. The basic test applied in the Tinker case says we must ask, "Do the schools have a reasonable idea that the prohibited clothing would cause disruption to education?" Well, blue jeans don't disrupt education. Neither do banded-waist shirts, or t-shirts with no collar and a big flower on the front. But the proposed Metro policy allows none of these. Get ready for your tax dollars to be used to defend a worthless policy.

I hate to assume that Metro can't find anything better to do than to swap around the days students attend school, or fuss over what they wear. Here are some great things Bransford Avenue could better do with its time:

• Figure out how to prevent the next Antioch-sized infrastructure crisis.
• Figure out how to make students and parents in non-magnet schools thrilled with their educational opportunities.
• Figure out how to improve graduation rates, specifically at Maplewood and Stratford. These kids need a lot more than our sartorial suggestions.
• Figure out how to meet state requirements [and I would argue, moral requirements] that special ed and gifted students receive education appropriate to their needs.
• Figure out how to tell the public the great things are schools are already doing—and there are many successes every day—so that the next time the school board needs a tax increase, our children don't get the shaft again.

If you're still with me, thank you. This is a long one. One last thing:
Please contact all school board members to tell them that SSA is a bad idea that should be buried now so that the board can concentrate on real problems and opportunities. Don't forget; the board takes up SSA at its April 10 meeting.

Want to help more? Check out the blog and Yahoo! group for parents opposed to this policy.

Asparagus: Favorite spring treat

  Up close and personal 

Note: I took some nice photos of my asparagus but I confused myself in an effort to have a camera cord at home and at work, and managed to leave them both at the office. Come back tomorrow for the photo!

When I was growing up, as I personally remember [I bet my mother will say different], I ate all vegetables except two: Spinach and asparagus. Well, OK, and not brussels sprouts. Or beets. Or sweet potatoes. But really, how often do you eat those?

While I love them all now, asparagus remains a delight every time I have it. And my new favorite way to prepare it is thusly:

• Snap the spears in half—really, I don't like the bottom half at all. I've heard I should peel them, but that sounds like an awful lot of trouble, doesn't it? So forget it. Asparagus is a delicacy and if I only want to eat half, so be it.
• Place in a baking dish and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.
• Roast in the oven at around 450 til they're done.

The tips of the spears will be crispy on a few when the length of the spears is tender.

While I enjoy steamed asparagus, roasting enhances and deepens the flavor. Tonight I offered some to the Hungry Toddler and he was not interested. Oh well, more for me.

Peanut lottery

For my whole life, allergies have been an altogether annoying presence. Frankly, I'm now convinced that when they find the genes controlling immunological response, mine will have a couple of critical mutations, since my immune system's favorite target is the rest of my body.

So when the 7yo was born, I was a real freak about potential allergens in food. I don't have food allergies personally, but some researchers now believe that food, respiratory and skin allergies are all related. Which makes sense if you think about it. And given my troubles in the later two categories, it seemed prudent to be careful about what the 7yo ate.

I had her on a strict schedule. No eggs til she was a year. No fish. No chocolate or strawberries til she was two. And, most critically, no peanuts til she was three.

We pretty much hit all those targets with the 7yo, and she ended up able to eat everything, whether through good fortune or careful planning. Either way, it seemed a small sacrifice for the first three years.

Now, the Hungry Toddler was adopted, and he was born in Guatemala. We don't know his birth family's medical history. [Many adopted children are now fortunate to receive such information. You may never realize what a blessing it is to know your medical history, until you meet someone who doesn't.] At any rate, since we didn't know, again, it seemed wisest just to be careful about his foods. The funny thing about it is, when HT came home, though he was only 7 months old, his foster mother insisted—and was obviously right—that he would eat anything. This child could chew things with his gums that grown people gag over. So, how was I to know that he hadn't been enjoying peanut sauce on top of all his veggies for the past few months?

Still, we embarked on the no-peanuts campaign. Have you ever tried to keep one member of the household from eating something that everyone else eats? Or from touching it? And it happens to be sticky?

I'm making it sound like we've painted the house in peanut butter, but it is true that the 7yo practically lives on the substance. So it was a pretty big effort to ensure none of it crossed his lips.

Last week while we were in Florida, the 7yo and I made one of my favorite childhood snacks: peanut butter sticks [more on these later]. We had them out on the meatblock to set while HT was napping, and I neglected to pack them away before he got up.

You can see what happened: He's tall enough to reach to the top of the meatblock, whether I think he is or not. :) And I found him chowing down on a peanut stick, standing right behind me with a big grin on his face.

I snatched the peanut stick away from him and washed him off, but the damage was done. My only question was, was there any benefit to waiting until he was three for the second dose? It would make my life a lot easier if we could get this over with. So I called his doctor today and they said, once he's eaten it, he's eaten it. He's either made the antibodies or he hasn't. So they recommended I give him a little and see what happened.

So tonight, HT got his second taste of peanut butter, just a little on some graham cracker bits. He found the texture quite amusing. And he wanted more.

Best of all, no rash! No wheezing! No nothing!

I realize that's the regular outcome, but you have to understand the paranoia. We have several friends with kids who have deadly peanut allergies. And it does change your life, and that of everyone around you, to have to avoid such a common food. We'll try some more peanut stuff over the next few days, but I'm hopeful in saying, Jif all around!

I was doing great 'til Brittney said 'cornbread'

  I didn't eat all this myself, don't worry! 

So, I'm sure you're dying to know, how's that whole "Eating-like-a-cardiologist" thing going. And while I blame Brittney for my downfall here, that's not true. [Though she is responsible for the cornbread consumption at my house recently.]

I did really well the first few days of cardio eating. I quickly found, however, that I could eat really well if I ate the same thing every day. Or, almost the same thing. I found it much more difficult when I started to branch out. [As mentioned here before, I grew up on the meat and potatoes plan. I'm less imaginative when it comes to fun things to do with salad. You need 10 ways to cook hamburger? I'm your woman, despite the fact that I can't remember the last time I purchased ground beef.]

Part of the issue is, though I'm not prone to binge eating, I think I probably do eat more calories than I need in any given day. While I'm much more regular in my exercise habits than I have been the past couple years, there's no erasing that my lifestyle is fairly low-key. I spend my workday on the computer, and though I am able to exercise several times a week, you don't need to carbo-load to surf the net and send email and go for a walk every couple days.

So I would love to keep pushing the total calories down. But as you might have guessed, seeing as how this is a food blog, I love food. And I love good food. What I have been pretty successful at, without overmuch effort, is reducing the amount of bad food I eat. Before I eat something, I ask myself,  is this worth the calories? [Well, OK, lotsa times it is. :) ]

But my biggest problem of late has been being out of my regular routine. People, visiting Austin, Texas, is not good for your health. It is a great place to eat out, but not so helpful to your waistline. I'm just saying.

So, I'm still chasing the cardio-eating wagon, though I am kinda hanging half-on, half-off at this point. Wish me luck.

Enough for now

Look! I made the banner come back. There's something about the way the Typepad set template was originally created that won't let me see all the pieces/parts of the CSS and there's something keeping me fr floating that and the Flickr banner on the top together. That, or I'm missing something obvious.

We'll find out which when I can con one of my more tech-savvy friends into looking under the hood.

What I've been doing while I haven't been fixing the CSS

We had a fabulous week in Florida with my parents. I have some photos and food-related items to add; hopefully I'll get to some of them later tonight. And today, we had lots of good intentions about various projects, but instead:

• We went to Opry Mills and got the 7yo an Easter outfit and a dress to wear for a special event this summer, and the Hungry Toddler got an outfit for the special event, too.
• I went online and got HT an Easter outfit and me some much-needed work clothes.
• We went swimming for the first time this year! [OK, the first time in Nashville. Obviously we went swimming in Florida.] It was a little on the chilly side but once you were in, perfect!
• I spent an hour — an entire 60 minutes — finding a hotel that offered reasonably priced suites [Did you know that a "suite" could be only one room?? Don't get me started, but look before you leap at Days Inn.], wireless and a pool, all within easy distance of Colonial Williamsburg, for our vacation this summer. [I am so excited. With the exception of one long weekend in North Carolina about three years ago, this is the first real vacation I can recall taking in years. We go visit family a lot and we're blessed that they live at the beach and in New York City, but it is so nice to go on actual vacation and stay in a hotel from time to time.]
• We went to the grocery store.
• We picked up the dog.

That is a really awesome day.

Here's a fun idea

Why not try making all kinds of adjustments to the CSS and code underlying your blog, when you can only see most of the code that makes the site tick? You'll have fun things happen like:

• Your banner will disappear!
• Your cool new Flickr badge will reposition itself all over the page!
• Your right-hand column will vanish!

Actually, I made the RH column vanish on purpose, and I just haven't replaced it yet. But the list above seems more complete with three items, don't you think?

Seeing as how I was in the car most of the day today, I am going to leave the banner mystery for tomorrow. In fact, the banner was here earlier tonight, and I really like it. Hopefully you will too, soon.

In progress

Now the text looks nice on a Mac, not so much on a PC. I better get this wrapped up today....spring break is ending!

The inmates are in charge

Holy cow, this new Flickr feature I've been testing for Fixin' Supper—in what I thought was a development template—has posted itself to my site.

Umm, this isn't what Fixin' Supper is supposed to look like.

Unfortunately, I won't have time to fix it til Monday night or Tuesday. Hang in there....New design is coming. Sooner than I thought.

You're not crazy, I am

Yes, I've been messing with my stylesheet for Fixin' Supper. No, this isn't a new design. I've been playing with it to understand how it's constructed better, so that I can create a new design soon.

That is all.