Sick and tired....

Of teachers and schools thinking they have total say over their students. I never gave them the right to do so. I have never ceded my rights as a parent to the school system.
Case in point: My 9th grader has to do something, by school mandate, called job shadowing. Ok, fine. Not a bad idea, especially as it may give him the chance to view his chosen profession through the eyes of someone actually in that profession. So first off, a month or so ago, when I first got the forms to fill out for him to do this, he was talking about the meeting the counselors had with the kids to go over the requirements. They also gave a list of jobs that would not be appropriate for shadowing--i.e. tattoo artist, etc...Then he told me that they were told that parents have no say in what jobs their own kids shadow. HELLO?????? I'm sorry, but yes I do have a say. I could have told my kids, fine, he could shadow me at my job. I could have said no to his choices. Fortunately they were pretty good choice. I told him that if he is ever told again by a school official of any kind that I don't have the right to have a say in anything to do with his education, then he needs to tell me, because you had best believe, I WILL tell THEM.
Second case: tonight my 7th grader comes home and tells me that he is going to the local univeristy on Friday for a version of a career fair. I ask where is the note, the permission slip? There is none. You had best believe I will be contacting the school in the morning to find out why. They had better have one hell of a reason.
Forget it---there is no good reason. The principal had better be prepared for a butt-reaming. I'm in just that kind of mood, after my 9th grader's English teacher informed his class that unless they turn in the homework assignment from today before they leave on job shadowing tomorrow, they will receive a zero on the assignment. She has an email waiting in her box, and I sense a meeting coming on between her, me, him, and the principal--both for the 9th grade and the school principal.
More to come, I'm sure.......