Every once in awhile there is an actual letter to the editor.

But 90% of the time that wonderful little newspaper has provided space for anyone with something to say and give them a voice to be heard. God Bless them for doing so. Some colorful characters have chimed in over the years and provided entertaining, informative and sometimes downright annoying commentary.

There have been some classic back-n-forths that lasted over several issuses.

In that same spirit comes the Cheatham County section of BabyReagan.net – Cheatham County is a wonderful place to call home. But make no mistake.. it’s not perfect and there are discussions that need to be had. BabyReagan.net will make a sincere and fair attempt to provide a forum where B.S be damned.

Please submit topic suggestions to cheathamcounty@babyreagan.net

Topics will roll out every Friday morning and the discussion will begin below.

To get things started… a multiple choice question. The topic: Elementary and Middle School Fundraising – You know… cookie dough, magazine subscriptions and “book club” catalogs that contain a significant number of non-book choices such as sticker books, posters and toys.

With elementary and now middle-school parental experience under my belt, I’ve always had a problem with the kids being used as sales leads. Aside from just feeling “wrong”, it got old real quick. There’s no shortage of opportunities for one to take an order form to work and hawk over-priced Carmel popcorn in deco containers. It’s for the kids of course.

It’s no secret that the schools are strapped for cash. That’s a WHOLE OTHER topic. And of of the things I hope to do with this site is try and find out why that is. Gather together the people that actually know the facts and figures of the dollars flowing in and out of the school system. Highlight what is working and identify the waste and mis-management. There are multiple revenue streams coming in. It’s hard to phathom there’s absolutely no room for improvement.

About that multiple choice question…

What makes more sense?

1. Have the children sell cookie dough for Otis Spunkmeyer and be rewarded a minimal percentage of the total sale for their noble little efforts. Just an example, but you get the spirit. When the kids are selling items for a third-party… they (the school) will only ever receive a small piece of the overall profit. We all know this.

2. There’s carnival day, field day, open house, family bashes… why not an annual “Give” day. On that day, families would simply give what they could to the schools. It could be hyped and presented as a fun annual challenge. Try to top the previous year. No selling anything. Just giving. And the schools keep all the money. It’s a good bet that the local generosity would be overwhelming.

3. Perhaps you-the-reader might have an even better suggestion. Let’s hear it.

Keeping the schools strong, in order and running like well-oiled machines is essential. Let’s discuss how to do it better. Opinions run very deep when talking about the schools. Understood. These are our kids we are talikng about. Passion will be tolerated. Idiocy will not.

Let’s adhere to the Aretha Franklin Principle OK?

Please.

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