Two signs of the times
While tweeting and blogging about today’s fundraising event for the Save Our Schools March and National Call To Action, I spotted this on Mike Klonsky’s blog:
How depressing is that? Fortunately, I’ve spent all day looking at another sign of the times: the rising progress thermometer over at http://www.saveourschoolsmarch.org
When little kids miss out on storytime and gym because their teachers are busy proctoring tests; when schools are so underfunded that they’re laying off teachers and shortening their school year, and our political and opinion “leaders” taunt that it’s high time they sacrificed even more; when the White House talks about ending school bullying yet promote bully-like “reforms” for some of the neediest schools in our educational system, it’s time to march. Join me in supporting this important cause!
Failing Schools 
I wonder about the intent of the note-poster, hoping he or she appreciated the irony and meant it to sound as harsh as it does. No laughter. No joy. We test kids here and we don’t have time for all that stuff.
It is important to stay mindful of our priorities as we go through hard times in the educational department. Under staffing has caused some discomfort and stretching of resources in many establishments. At the same time, it is important to keep it in perspective how privileged we are as a nation. If toddler gym and story time are some of our only (and infrequent) niceties that we must do without, we are still not impoverished across the board.
We are fortunate by comparison, but story time is a crucial foundation of early literacy, and playtime is both physically and cognitively essential for children. I totally agree with your point about being grateful, but neither of those things are just “niceties”– they’re important for children’s development.