Unfortunately for us, a family who could really benefit from the magnet system in Los Angeles, we are completely out of the loop. Emma is behind 8 points right now from the rest of her classmates who are working the magnet system. In 2007, Newsweek named a school called LACES in Los Angeles one of the top 50 high schools in the US. To get into LACES you need, at minimum, 20 magnet points. Just by graduating from a magnet school you get 12 points. If Emma had been put in Wonderland’s magnet program she would be eligible to go to LACES. And her start in life would be significantly improved. Due to my ignorance about the system when she went into 1st grade (we had moved from Santa Monica where they choose to improve ALL schools, rather than relying on the magnet system) and then in 3rd grade I’d forgotten to sign the form that the school needed and by the time my sister told me about it it was too late and she’d lost the form anyway. Long story short, one big fucking nightmare. Attending the school, Wonderland, has made no significant improvement in my daughter’s education. I think it might be time to abandon LAUSD altogether.

The parent thing is hard, folks. Don’t ever let anyone tell you differently. It is especially hard when you’re trying to do everything right and you inevitably fail your children. Being somewhat poor folk with an exceptionally smart kid, a kid who is 98th percentile highly gifted, a great student and someone who deserves the best public education has to offer. But between my own flailing around the system and our particular school’s fucked-up-edness, I think I’ve ultimately failed in my goal to have her on track for a full scholarship at a major university. Life sucks balls. What can I say.