Voting Time!

Late Friday the school held elections for parent representatives to what is called the Counseil d'Administration.

This is a large group: Parents (I'm not sure how many representatives there are in total, but this year there are 5 openings from the College and 7 from the Lycee,) the Proviseur (head of school), her assistant, a delegate from the commune (here the 15th arrondissement,) several teachers/other administrators, a delegate from the building committee (the group responsible for the upkeep of the school,) student reps from each class (6th-12 grade.) This being France, the country where bureaucracy was born, it is easy to find exquisite detail on how this group works, who should be a member, how often it will meet, and how it works with other administrative groups, both at the school and within the city and country. In looking at the list, I am actually amazed that the director is able to do any productive work: it would seem that most of her time would be spent in meetings.

The overall goal of the CA is to provide an educational "plan," and then come up with the money to fund that plan. Apparently, there is some autonomy at the local level, which really surprises me - I had a vague idea that in the land of equalite et fonctionnaires that pretty much everything was top-down driven. I shall have to investigate that a little more. I suppose that explains why certain schools have certain extra-curricular activities that are different than others. So for example, here's a plan from one from Henri IV, located in one of the most "desired" school districts, the 5th arrondissement, (and consequently one of the most expensive places to live in the city.)  And another college in the 19th - one of the poorest places in the capital - looks like it doesn't have a plan. Certainly its website has little useful information. Alexandre's school is in the middle - not particularly good, but not the worst. (There are a couple of after-school projects including rock-climbing, hip-hop dancing. In-school projects include chorus (1x week during lunch, and a couple of field trips (5 days in the Lozere in early Sept. for the 7th grade class, a trip to see West Side Story in November...)

To return to the subject at hand: voting in France most often means voting for a political party and its platform of political promises rather than individual candidates. Before the election, each party will present its candidates in a specific order. Once the votes are tallied, the positions are allotted proportionally to the votes cast, and then the party will assign its allotted places in the order that the candidates were presented. Thus the name - proportional voting.  This is in contrast to how France elects its president, for the presidential race is one of the few where the voters vote for a specific candidate.  During this election, all candidates are on the first round ballot. Two weeks later, the top two vote-getters square off in a final vote that will declare one person the future president. This can lead to some interesting results: a couple of elections ago, in 2002, the two candidates facing off in the second round of voting were both from the right - Jacques Chirac (center right,) and  Jean Marie Le Pen (extreme right.) France is not an extreme country, particularly, although parties from either end certainly have representatives in various legislative bodies. This choice was problematic for the left. (Anecdotally, the French don't have an option for a write-in vote - the only protest is by not voting at all.) A decision was made that center right was less objectionable than far right, and consequently, the Socialist Party (PS) called on its members to vote for Chirac in order to prevent LePen from coming to power, and the result was an overwhelming victory for Chirac. (about 82% vs 18% of total votes cast, with about a 20 % abstention rate.)

The vote for the school's Conseil d'Administration, however, was by proportional - not direct - voting, and before the election, we received the position statements from the two parent groups proposing candidates.

One party, called PEEP,  is in favor of
- electing dynamic and committed parents who will be actively involved in the daily life of the school.
- making sure that the school invests in and maintains its historically strong language program (both living and ancient languages.)
- More field trips and developing  foreign exchanges/partnerships with schools outside France.
- Developing and investing in projects that will help students figure out what they will do later in life.

The other party, called FCPE , is in favor of
- improving social and learning environment (d'obtenir de meilleures conditions de vie et d'apprentissage, ameliorer le cadre de vie.)
- fighting excessive backpack weight.
- promoting balanced and inexpensive school lunches.
-  proactively preparing students for their future by bringing in professionals to meet students. (Rencontres etudes et metiers)

Both sound pretty good to me. As I have said in other posts, carrying around 10 kilos of books, and bouncing pieces of stale baguettes across the courtyard are not particularly conducive to a postive educational experience.  But I think that field trips will trump cafeteria food this fall. So, I take the piece of paper that says PEEP, put it into a small envelope, seal this envelope, and put it into another envelope. The second envelope asks me for my name and address, which I duly write on the front of the larger envelope. I give the envelope to A. who will put it in the voting urn (a big cardboard box) at school for me. And my civic duty for the day is done. But the million euro question is, once the votes are cast, and the election results known, how much influence will this group have with the school? And that question is international. Parents come and go. Teachers and administration stay.

A. takes the bus and will meet Dolores Umbridge

The boys, just last summer, on the rail trail.

N. getting ready to leave for school.

It occurred to me,yesterday morning, as I watched the epic deluge from our window, that it must be nasty to ride a bike without proper gear. Most of the people that I see riding bikes here don't resemble the bikers in our family. No head gear, for one thing. No fluorescent tapes, or lights. Nor biking shoes. Basically, the idea is that you jump on a bike and ride from point a to point b. 

I dunno, the whole thing is a bit scary. I say this as a former rider, with some experience outside spinning classes. Let me just brag a bit... from the time I was in conservatory until my older son was born, I was a bike commuter. First from the various suburbs of Boston that called home as a student (Belmont, Central Sq., JP) I could get downtown far more quickly than the Green or Red Line. Then, as a tour guide in the Loire Valley and in Burgundy (although in both cases, my lack of seniority meant that I drove the van to pick up stragglers transport luggage more than I actually biked!) I continued on as a commuter while living in Paris, proud of my ability to negotiate traffic around l'Arc de Triomphe, and secretly amused by the drivers who would roll down their windows to say "Jennie Longo!" Alas, after N. was born, I had to stop the intense biking: my hands were so swollen that I couldn't play the harpsichord any longer.

Brag over.

This is the first biker I've seen who actually stopped biking to chat.  

I still don't quite get the biking thing in the city, though. A friend spent the evening at the ER last Saturday for an infected cut (note: you can't get otc antibiotic ointment over here - I think that the pharmacies are great for prescription drugs, toothpaste, shampoo, and esoteric homeopathic pills, but the really important stuff, like the ointment, meh. ) and her comment was that she had never seen so many bike-related injuries: broken limbs, scrapes, and the odd concussion or two. I can see that. (see observation about clothes above.) People talk on their cell phones while biking, unaware that a bus is tailgating them. Women ride in high heels. People ride with packages in their arms over cobblestones. They wobble. They weave in and out of traffic packed with buses, cars, motorcycles, delivery vans,... A. is very angry that I won't let him on a bike in the city, but I think that argument is not one that he will win.

But back to the story....

I actually do get the reason behind the bike riding, I'll reluctantly admit. Who in the world would want to wait 15 minutes for a crowded bus, ride on that same bus for another 10, risking life and limb to a cowboy driver whose knowledge encompasses only "fast" and "stop" - only to find that the desired destination will be achieved by getting on the next bus because the bus that you're on has been "termine" midway through its trip because there is a "manifestation" (lots of people making a lot of noise over their grievance de jour) that is blocking the rest of the route? If a bike is handy, it sounds like a great way to get to where you're going. No fuss, no maintenance, not even expensive. Easy. And there's a lot of people who agree - up to 110,000 trips per day according to the Velib blog. (in French) That's a lotta people that aren't on the bus or in the metro.

Except when it's raining.

And so here's what happened: we went downstairs to catch the 62 bus that would take us to the 88 bus that goes directly to school. The 62 was late, because, well, it takes a long time to board 25 people at the same time that an equal number are getting off. And a long stop means incremental delays in service. We could have walked to the 88 stop - it's only 8 minutes away. But, it was raining - like a peeing cow, as they say here- and so Murphy's law prevailed once again. We arrived at the 88 stop just in time to see the taillights disappear down the road. The next bus was 17 minutes later, and voila, Alexandre was 10 minutes late for school. 

I didn't know this until he texted me at lunchtime. "Three kids have gotten beaten up on the playground and I've gotten a colle." Oh yikes. I immediately texted him back, "Explain." "Nothing serious. I'll tell you when I get home, don't text me again at school. I don't want my phone stolen." 

The email wasn't long in coming: 

NOTIFICATION  D'UNE RETENUE

 

 

Mme Katherine ,

 

J'ai le regret de vous informer que votre enfant XXXXX élève de la classe de 5ème 1INTERNATIONALE a été mis en retenue à la demande du  CPE CPE.

 

Durée et date : 1h00 le 08/10/2012 à 08h00

Pour le motif : Arrivée trop tardive, élève dirigé en permanence

Travail à réaliser : Recopier les verbes irréguliers d'anglais

 

Veuillez agréer, Mme Kxxx XXXXX, l'assurance de ma considération distinguée.

 

 

La Conseillère Principale d'Éducation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Accusé de réception à retourner lors de la retenue

 

Rappel des faits :  1h00 le 08/10/2012 à 08h00 pour le motif : Arrivée trop tardive, élève dirigé en permanence.

Je soussigné(e),                                                    , responsable de l'enfant XXXX Xxxxx en classe de 5ème 1INTERNATIONALE, certifie avoir pris connaissance des faits indiqués ci-dessus.

 

Date :                                                                                  Signature :

Actually the good news was that A. didn't have to go to his singing class (the teacher began the class last week by making an example out of A. "What country do you come from?""Amerique""Ah, bon. Did your teacher teach you to not sing the right words there?" (A's comment, I was having a hard time with the pronunciation. "But don't worry Mommy, everyone hates her, and besides, I knew it was my turn coming up - she did the same thing to Lorenzo and Paul last week.") I didn't know whether to be more concerned about the mean comment or my son's cynicism. We ended up talking about how some people are just plain rude, and how to develop an effective comeback.

But seriously.... 5 minutes late AND you're not allowed in class, AND you're given an hour detention at 8am (meaning we have to leave at 7) to ...write out irregular verbs in ENGLISH??? I suppose I should be thankful that he didn't miss French.

From the teacher's (and even the other student's) point of view, it is a good thing to not have to worry about the class being interrupted with late arrivals. But this was a first infraction! It seems like the penalty is a little steep. Where's the leeway?  I got on the phone and managed to switch the penalty to another day after school, so at least we won't have to leave home at 7 am. And A. won't have to copy irregular English verbs, only work on homework. That's a good thing, I think, I hope. I would like to believe that it would be easier/more efficient to work at school rather than at home where there are many other distractions...

Rumor has it that A. got off lightly: that there are three teachers in the next grade up that make their errant pupils write 200 lines of text for each infraction. An hour before school, no exceptions. At least the blood quill is missing, and pupils are now allowed to use ball point pens, rather than Waterman's. And next week, the math class is actually going to get 3 computers. Ta dah!

As to being on time... maybe we should get scooters. But how do you scooter with a 20 lb. book bag? In the rain? At 7 am?

Guilin to Yangshuo down the Li River

Just as promised, the trip down the Li River was astonishing. We left early in the am, passed by some construction, and then hit the river. 

Scaffolding is bamboo

2 story houses are evidence of increasing wealth in this once exceedingly poor region.

Rice paddies being cleaned up.

This woman has a catch of fresh fish that she will sell to the stream of commercial tourist boats heading down the river.

A more traditional bamboo raft. There were not many of these fishermen.

Cooling off in the river.

The wall of Nine Horses - A. was the first one to see them all. (I found 7)

Tangerine plantations

Water buffalo

After we reached Yangshou, we had a small break, and then headed out on another bus. First up was a short trip on a bamboo raft. As we drifted down the river, we were treated to the sight of a traditional fishing method: that of comorant fishing. The birds have a choke collar so that they can not swallow the fish that they catch. The collar is undone every 5 or 6 fish so that they know that if they work, they will get fed. It is quite amazing to watch. Then, we stopped to see some water buffalo up close, and a quick tour of a traditional fishing town (which is in the process of being completely modernized.) And then off to our hotel.

N and A enjoying the river.

Cormorant fishing

It was a beautiful trip.