think about this
 	
 	
 		uh do you have children in school um i have two that are uh now just about ready to graduate from college but i also have two that are just entering school um
 	
 	
 		i do
 		oh
 		so you see a big difference then in before and now do you or
 	
 	
 		uh well uh
 		i think they're just pushing them much entirely to fast
 	
 	
 		a lot of testing
 	
 	
 		um well it seems to me that kindergarten is now the equivalent of first grade my son leaves the house at seven thirty and doesn't get home until three o'clock
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 		um-hum
 	
 	
 		and i think that's such a long day for a kindergartner
 	
 	
 		i do too i oh i think that's awful
 	
 	
 		and uh i have a preschooler um i was told by her preschool teacher that she thought maybe she was to immature for kindergarten and i thought well how mature do you have to be
 	
 	
 		i know really what's the new criteria huh
 	
 	
 		and uh there is a do you have the standardized testing now
 	
 	
 		we have all kinds of testing and it's over and over it's ITBS or and uh just everything everything and they test test test i live in Plano actually and
 	
 	
 		yeah
 	
 	
 		i don't know if you've heard of Plano but it's a very transient community a lot of people from everywhere it's just north of Dallas
 	
 	
 		no
 		um-hum
 	
 	
 		and it's grown in leaps and bounds i we must have maybe a hundred and fifty thousand people now and most of them from other places
 	
 	
 		oh
 		yeah
 	
 	
 		uh JC Penney's come down from New York and of course TI and Xerox from Rochester and we just have lots of people from everywhere lots of industry coming in and it's a very wealthy community
 	
 	
 		yeah
 	
 	
 		uh not that i am but other people seem to be and i would love to know why but i mean they do they have i i would i really would i mean they just have beautiful beautiful homes and they have everything
 	
 	
 		
 
 		yeah you'd like to know what they're doing right
 	
 	
 		the kids only wear name brand things to school and it's one of these things well it does you know it really does because i'm a single mom and i have a thirteen year old now and uh you know it does i mean we do it to a point but um
 	
 	
 		oh me well that makes it hard for you doesn't it
 		oh me
 		yeah it's hard to explain to them why you can't
 	
 	
 		not to where she feels different but some of them are very rich and so
 		um we just kind of have everything here and we have a very goal oriented population because their parents are
 	
 	
 		right
 	
 	
 		and so i don't know how much of it is us and how much of it is Texas but the kids are expected to excel in everything
 	
 	
 		oh dear
 	
 	
 		and it's almost impossible because you have so many children
 		and just so many activities that everybody can't be first and they're expected to be you know their parents expect it
 	
 	
 		right
 	
 	
 		the teachers expect it Texas wants very badly to be considered tops in the school system and if you read national surveys they're far from it
 	
 	
 		right
 	
 	
 		and so there's just a whole lot of testing and a whole lot of pushing to do well on these tests and
 	
 	
 		how about the kids how are they coping with it
 	
 	
 		well not very well they bring home notes that say they have to get a good night's sleep and eat right in the morning before tests i mean they make a big deal to me the paper should just be put on the desk that day and say just do this
 	
 	
 		hum
 		right
 	
 	
 		you know i just feel they do better that way and yeah and and i have older children too that now are out of high school and
 	
 	
 		yeah rather than anticipating
 	
 	
 		uh they've always done this you know i mean it's always been the same but it is it's getting worse and worse there's more pressure for everything
 		and i just think it's really awful and i i'm with you on that you don't hear too many people say this but i think it's a very long day
 	
 	
 		oh it is
 	
 	
 		and my feeling is that you you know you're only a kid once and you don't wanna spend your whole life in school
 	
 	
 		that's right
 		my son said that came home and he said he said mom all we do is work we hardly ever play and
 	
 	
 		um-hum um-hum
 		and i don't think that's right i think we should do what Europe does and include cultural activities in our school system
 	
 	
 		oh likewise
 	
 	
 		i don't  think i should have to pay for dancing lessons gymnastics piano i would like to see those things included in our school system because i think we should have well rounded kids
 	
 	
 		right
 		wouldn't that be great
 		um-hum
 	
 	
 		not just smart book smart kids
 	
 	
 		right
 	
 	
 		and so i just find this a real problem i think if they're gonna be there all day they should find time
 		one of my daughters once was out of school with Mono in her junior year i think it was
 		and she had a home teacher for like four hours a week and when she went back in six weeks she was ahead
 	
 	
 		is that right  oh my gosh
 	
 	
 		so what does that tell you the it tells you there's a whole lot of wasted time
 	
 	
 		oh my gosh
 	
 	
 		and they could be using this time better
 	
 	
 		well for example in my son's kindergarten they're really finished at lunch time after lunch they have some uh
 		i'm trying to think if they have recess after lunch and then they have naps or rest period
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		and uh
 		i think either send them home or do something
 	
 	
 		that's a very long day for kindergarten but i think that working parents have kind of demanded this
 	
 	
 		a little more interesting i agree
 		i wouldn't be surprised
 	
 	
 		you know because they don't they don't wanna send them to day care
 	
 	
 		i doubt if they would say that it was too long
 	
 	
 		that's why they want them there because then somebody takes care of them all day  so the
 	
 	
 		um do you have the before school care at your school and the after school care
 	
 	
 		we have them at some one school like