In moving to Hartford later this spring, my kids have been issuing complaints about possibly having to comply with a new citywide public school uniform policy there. The basic standard is set by the city itself, newly in effect for the current school year, and the schools have some flexibility in selecting an alternate color kids can wear, as well as a few other variables.
At first, my children totally balked at the idea of having to comply, and staunchly refused any public schooling, insisting on homeschooling as the only method to which they would agree. Listening to three small children at the dinner table attempting to pose something of a political bloc on this matter, over school uniforms, lent itself toward the humorous, but I respect their civil liberties argument.
Later, we explored Hartford’s online resources for dress codes, namely the district’s list of reasons (PDF) for why the policy exists. Selling points: there is a range of choice for what to wear to school, and it is, in fact, your own clothing. My kids’ initial notion of a uniform was the polyester sort where you are actually putting on someone else’s items, and they are uncomfortable and ill-fitting.
Later still, an April 10 memorandum was sent home to parents from the Springfield public schools:
"We are currently in the process of holding meetings with principals and parents to gather input on transitioning to a uniform policy in all Springfield public schools. This transition period would begin for the 2007-2008 school year.
"Please take the time to communicate your feelings on this important matter with the principal at each school where you have a student. We will hold a citywide meeting at a future date so that we can hear from all concerned parties.
"It is important that all parents and guardians work with principals and staff members so the School Committee can make an informed decision."
When talking about this memorandum with my children I couldn’t help but feel a sense of triumph, that they are now being penned into a corner, and must, some day, comply with a dress code. After all, dress codes have their merits. Not that I am eager to engage with it—I just like the idea of questioning assumptions and proving that some things aren’t as bad as they may first appear. We may experience the dress code and find that we really like it, and it eliminates a lot of problems. The more we discuss it, the more I discover its appeal.
Homeschooling also has its merits, too, and it’s still an option on the table for us, depending on how things look in Hartford. Some in the region—including a Springfield city teacher—have warned me against the Hartford public schools, and recommended that I homeschool after we move, just as people warned me against the Springfield public schools, and cautioned against any place except Talmadge or SABIS. I’m not impressed by these suggestions except to be moved to greater curiosity about why there is such bias. People’s fears and concerns tend to be a little exaggerated, I find, and I’m better off if I can investigate for myself.
A local police officer recently told me that my very own neighborhood is a den of crime, in a tsk-tsking manner, sort of an "It’s all gone to hell" comment, as though I don’t live here and walk its streets every day. (He didn’t know.) When I told him I do, and that my kids go to school here, he said, "God bless you," which I wasn’t quite sure how to take. In listening to people talk about Hartford—just as with Springfield—I sit with a large grain of salt on my lap the size of a pumpkin. I don’t think it qualifies as a grain anymore.
