First Day Of School

It's 2006 and my kids go to a public school in an upscale neighborhood. Why am I filling out Emergency Notification Cards in ink, by hand? Worse, there is a blue one and a white one containing identical information, both of which must be completed in detail, presumably to be filed in some sort of oversize throwback of a card catalogue for reference by the office staff at Wilson Elementary School in Eagle Glen. The cards are even labeled, so color blind people can tell the difference. The blue one says blue at the bottom and the white one says white. I'm guessing that grew out of George Bush I's ADA act.

Again, it's 2006. The hard drive on my laptop is big enough to contain the names, addresses, and phone numbers for every student in the district (including Great Aunt Susie's cell phone number).

California spends ten grand plus per student per year, you'd think they could pop for a $1,500.00 computer to keep track of student emergency notification information. Or maybe they already use a computer. But if that was the case why would they ask each parent to complete two identical cards, one white, one blue.