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rgillmi
F L I N T O I D
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I have a question for all of you. I am looking to get the word out on a problem/issue I am having and see if anyone can help me get an answer, and I was hoping you could point me in the right direction. My son will be four in September and should be starting school this fall. We are a family of three making around 19,000 a year, which is around 1,500 over the official poverty level, but like most people around here are barely making it. We are being told that we make too much money to be qualified to get our son into any pre-kindergarten programs or head start. I want to know who in the city or state administration that I would need to appeal to in order to see if anything could be changed regarding the numbers here. I am sure we are not the only family that is dealing with this issue. Hard working families like mine are being punished because we are trying to do better by working instead of trying to mooch the system like so many people out there today. I am trying to get something done or get the word out because I know that there will be a school board election soon and I think this should be brought up. My son has a right to an education. All kids do. Everyone claims they want to improve our city and state workforce, but they don't want to give our children a little extra effort. Please let me know if you have any ideas.
Thank you.
Robert Gill
rgillmi@yahoo.com
810-250-2178
810-516-8367 |
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Tue Apr 17, 2007 1:44 pm |
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KW
F L I N T O I D
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Are you absolutely sure of your son's status? Today was "Kindergarten Round Up" at the school where I work. I have never heard that there was an income requirement for preschool in the Flint District. I believe that there are certain requirements for the Head Start program which is funded differently than the preschool programs.
Go to the Flint Community Schools' website (www.flintschools.org) Choose "Site Map" and then "Early Childhood Programs." It says there that income is not a factor.
Also, you might want to check the Michigan Department of Education's website. There is a ton of information for parents of wee folk.
Good Luck to you and your child! |
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Tue Apr 17, 2007 5:14 pm |
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rgillmi
F L I N T O I D
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Thank you for the response KW. Even pre-kindergarten is giving us problems. There are only 16 openings at the school closest to us, which really isn't that close and it is in an awful neighborhood. They claim there are no income requirements, but there are 24 factors that are the criteria to be enrolled. One of them is that you get some kind of help from the Department of Human Services, which basically translates to being low income. Luckily for us, at the moment we do receive Medicaid, but we are not sure if that counts or not and we will not find out until Thursday when we go to enroll him. The other problem we will have is that we are told that by enrolling him at Washington for pre-k, he will be stuck there until sixth grade. We live next door to Potter School and really want him to go there, but all they have is Head Start, which we can't get him into because I make $500 too much every year. Never thought that a
twenty five cents an hour of my wage would make such a problem... maybe I should ask my boss for a pay decrease... Well anyways, thanks again.
Rob |
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Tue Apr 17, 2007 8:47 pm |
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JBToolFist
F L I N T O I D
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Rob,
Something smells a bit odd about your post.
Forgive me if I'm completely wrong on this, and if I am - I completely apologize.........but here's my issue:
Your posts are a bit too articulate and error free to be written by a man who has a family of three and only makes $19,000 per year. A person with HALF the writing skills and communication abilities that you have can easily make twice that amount in today's world by just sending out a few resumes and being tenacious.
So what's the true deal? Here's your choices
1) You have a history that won't allow you to get a decent job (felony)
2) You're a smart guy who just never had a great deal of ambition
3) You're a hoax and making this stuff up
4) You're disabled and as a result are having a difficult time finding a decent paying job
5) None of the above: so fill me in. |
_________________ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07pLGIgyfjw
"If you ain't from Flint, then it's like straight up F*&^ You!" - The Dayton Family
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiV_ue-PbL4 |
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Tue Apr 17, 2007 9:13 pm |
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rgillmi
F L I N T O I D
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Well I am not sure how to take your response, but I think I will take it as a complement on my writing and communication abilities. Well first, I am not making any of this up, and second I have no felonies. I guess I am just a smart and articulate person who is having trouble finding good employment in this area. I am 28 and all I have done so far in life involves food service with some writing and activism on the side, more as a hobby. So, even though I have great communication skills, all that is on my resume is food service experience, and that isn't going to get me any more than 20 grand a year in this area. I love to cook, but I would also love to have a better paying job especially one in any kind of writing or public relations fields, but there do not seem to be any openings here. Like I said no felonies, but I do have a GED instead of a diploma, no college, and at the moment no driver's license due to some currently unpaid tickets, but nothing but traffic infractions. I have reliable transportation, but at the moment, since my wife is taxi-ing me around, that limits the distance that I can commute to a job and that is why I am stuck here in Flint making 20,000 dollars a year. So, do you know anyone who is hiring... |
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Tue Apr 17, 2007 9:45 pm |
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