Sherman R. Frederick Commentary: Must stop enrollment leakage

Public school enrollment in Marin is falling for one simple reason: Public schools did an uneven job coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. I was tempted to characterize the school ‘s response as  “lousy,” but that seems a little harsh given that the whole COVID-19 issue contained several complicating factors, including the ever-moving science from the CDC. 

But that said, from a parents perspective it is true that private schools in Marin did far better during the pandemic than public schools. 

The numbers tell the tale. Before the pandemic, public schools in Marin suffered loss of student enrollment at about a clip of 1% per year. Last year Marin public schools lost 5%. That’s unsustainable.

During the pandemic, I followed a number of parent-led social media sites highlighting how public schools seemed to have stumbled through the pandemic. One of them was Novato Rise, a gathering of parents critical of how slowly the Novato school district responded to the crisis. People who posted on the website said Novato public schools were quick to shut down and slow to start up.

It might be helpful for the powers-that-be in public schools to do a simple timeline of what public schools in Marin did and lay it over what private schools did. How many more days of in-person instruction did private school kids get in the 2020-21. What kinds of policies did private schools enact to keep some sense of a positive learning environment? When did they enact them? And, how does that compare with what public schools did?

That might help explain the thinking of parents who pulled their children out of public school.

(Postscript: I write all this with the caveat that Marin has a lot going for it when it comes to public schools — good and decent administrators, teachers and staff. Plus a lot of parents who really do give a damn. But the system isn’t perfect. The COVID pandemic highlighted some weak points in public education in Marin. This would be a good time to examine them.)

OAKLAND HATE

You gotta ask yourself what in the world is wrong with Oakland. Last week a toddler was shot and killed by a stray bullet in his car seat while travelling in the family car on I-880. This week, we’re hearing reports of anti-Asian graffiti in Oakland’s Chinatown. A wall on a market on 7th Street was defaced with “Go back to China yellow F***s.” 

What an ugly mess. 

WHEN YOU LOSE CNN … 

Speaking of messes, have you been keeping track of the brutal approval numbers of California favorite daughter Vice resident Kamala Harris? She’s even less popular than President Joe Biden. To put that in sharper focus, she’s lower than the Devil incarnate VP himself, Dick Cheney. Put that in your shotgun and fire it. 

Look, I’m not pretending to understand how VP Harris went from a political darling to a heaping pile of disappointment. Nor do I believe she can’t resurrect herself. But, it must be said that when you lose CNN as a Democrat, you know the road to recovery will be hard. In a report published last week, CNN describes Kamala Harris’s time as vice president so far as marked by “entrenched dysfunction and a lack of focus,” and reports that Harris and her “frantic” supporters feel she’s been “sidelined,” “constrained,” “struggling with a rocky relationship,” “abandoned,” “annoyed,” and “hobbled,” and that “her staff failed her.” 

Ouch.

ONE MORE THING

— Husband: “I want you to have this bracelet. It belonged to my grandmother. Wife: “Why does i say ‘Do Not Resuscitate?’”

— The San Francisco Chronicle reported eyewitnesses saw a dwarf climbing down San Quentin’s walls. I thought to myself: “That kind of reporting is a little condescending.” 

— If you want to make your wife feel special, place her picture in the kitchen with the label “Employee of the Month.” Follow me for more relationship tips.

— Doctor: I’m going to deliver your baby.” Parents: “Actually, we’d prefer the baby keep his liver.”

— I may have to skip Thanksgiving.

Hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving. As always, thank you for reading this local newspaper. Until next week, please be kind to all you meet, laugh a little and always question authority. 

(Sherman Frederick is an award-winning journalist and publisher of Marin’s community newspapers — the Novato Advance, San Rafael News-Pointer, Mill Valley Herald, Ross Valley Reporter, Twin City Times and the Sausalito Marin Scope. He is co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)