I've been recycling since I was a kid, but now, I do it even more with Terracycle (http://www.terracycle.net). Now, you don't have to throw away your chip-, candy- or cereal bags, among other things that you may thought to throw out. You can recycle them and donate the proceeds to a charity or school of your choosing.

Definitely, there are growing problems in the California school system (K-12). Now being a (step) parent and a new mother, I'm having to deal with it now (sigh).

We say "education system," but we look at the problem in parts - budgets, teacher qualifications, benefits, average class size, test scores, administration, unions, etc. - not holistically.

Although I understand there is a shortage of teachers, I wonder about the quality of teachers. Tenure in the K-12 system is easily obtain these days. What happened to merit? Where is the quality control and checks by teacher, parent and student reviews? We always look at the pay/salary of teachers, but what about the defined benefits that tenured teachers enjoy (I'd become a teacher with that pension, 3-months off, healthcare, training, predictable 7:30 - 2PM Monday to Friday hours - these are benefits that government workers enjoy). And why are the students let out of school earlier when there are teacher conferences? Do the conferences after school hours; don't cut the school hours.

As a child, I went through many school systems, good and bad. Class sizes of 20, 30 and 40 student didn't matter. If the teachers were effective, the students learned. Who introduced this idea of "overcrowding"? Teachers, schools, administrators, parents who think their students are special and need more attention? Is it the Teachers' Association? Check out Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers.

I see wasted resources and money in the public school systems. For example, my step children's middle schools has an iPod lab, even though students cannot use the iPod in the classrooms. That's not the only example, their schools are buying fewer Macs (due to cost), rather than buying more affordable PCs for more students to use. And rather than using or promoting shareware or Google apps, the schools are buying the latest software, that are incompatible with older versions which the parents are using. Do elementary students really need to use PowerPoint for their book reports?

Let's assume fundraising is a necessary evil in the public school systems due to budgetary shortfalls. My step children attend the Burlingame school system, which is considered to be in an affluent area. But why is it that we need to raise more money every year? What happened to saving some money for a rainy day? And why are their 10 fundraising events rather than 3 or 4 per year (or 1 for each season)?

There are problems in the school systems, especially in California. We all see it. I just have a different viewpoint now that I'm a parent. I have expectations, which are simple. I want my children to be prepared for the next school year to the best of their abilities.