...When All is Said and Dunn

As many a person before me, and much smarter than me, has said, golf is like life. Sometimes you get a good lie and sometimes you are in the rough. No matter how good of a golfer you are, every once in a while you end up in the rough. Just look at Tiger Woods, undeniably the best golfer of our time, who has been in the rough more times than I can count.

Once there though you don’t see Tiger pick up the ball and move it to where he has a better shot. Or maybe give the ball a little kick to get it out into the fairway. He wouldn’t win many tournaments or be invited back to many if he did. No, he does what anyone who plays fair does, he plays it where it lays.

Too many people over the last few years have been giving that ball a little kick so they can get what they want. They have been doing it oh so subtlety hoping that no one would see it move, but you can always count on someone eventually seeing. No matter if the indiscretion is big or little.

One of these little things is actually not a little thing at all because it impacts my kids, and our schools. You see, in the town that I live in, Temple City, we are blessed with great schools. For years our schools have been considered by many as some of the best, not only in our area, but in the state.

Along with all the accolades our schools receive they also receive something that they don’t want, students who are not part of our school district. The school requires proof of residence via the most current utility bills. If, when registering a child, the parent or guardian uses a false utility bill or are reported to be living outside the area, the school or school district is supposed to be sending out their hit squad to find the perpetrators and send them packing. Regardless of what system they are using it does not seem to be working, because there are numerous students in our schools who don’t belong there.

By ignoring the situation and allowing non-residential students to attend classes it causes overcrowding in classrooms that are pushing the limits every year. It is not fair to the teachers, the students, and to the city as a whole. And if the school district is understaffed or unwilling to deal with the situation perhaps a volunteer vigilante group should be formed to alleviate the problem.

If left unattended for too long the situation becomes this vicious snarling beast that can never be controlled without causing bad feelings of all parties involved. Fingers are pointed in every direction citing individual cases, “If they can do it why can’t I?” The longer we turn a blind eye to the problem the stronger the beast becomes. We must kill it before it becomes undefeatable.

The school district should take a clue from what has recently happened in the local Little Leagues. For a few years now both leagues, hungry for players, have been offering what is called a “waiver” so that a player who was living outside of the designated area was allowed to play in the league that they chose.

More times than not, the situation boils down to nothing more than a parent’s whim and the greed of the league and not the decision of the player. The kids, for the most part, couldn't care less where they play as long as they are playing. But the parents are the ones who are writing the checks. If they have a beef with certain personalities in their designated league, instead of just riding out the season like the rest of us, they look for a way to kick the ball to their advantage. Well, somebody finally saw and soon enough, the inevitable happened. You play where you live. In a city as small as this one it shouldn’t have taken this long.

And here is where the school district should really be paying attention. Once the first domino was tipped, the rest just fell. The fact that “waivers” were supposed to be the exception not the rule came to light. The addresses of players were checked and the players were sent back to the leagues they belonged in.

Sure, some parents got upset and refused to play in their designated league. But these renegades are punishing no one but their children. The system is not always designed to form fit to all our wants and desires. Sorry, but that’s life. But there will always be the opportunists out there that will put their need over the needs of their children.

Like the parent who was fortunate enough to have twins and use that to force the league to place them on the same team. I’m sorry, but I have 2 kids that are close in age, too. That doesn’t mean I have to bully either league to put them in the same league or the same team. That was the shot I made and that is the shot that I have to play. If that means I have to miss a game occasionally or make two trips to a practice or a game, so be it.

So if one kid belongs in one school or baseball league don’t try to cheat the system, play the ball where it lays. All you’re doing, as parents, is teaching your children to lie.

The Shrub Speaks: “There’s no such thing as legacies. At least, there is a legacy, but I’ll never see it.”
At The White House, 1/31/01