Why Can't Cinderella Go To The Ball?

The young lady who played Cinderella in M-ACT's production of Into The Woods in Marysville, Kansas, this past summer, has been the unfortunate victim of a disgusting game of petty politics played by her former school principal, Dean Dalinghaus, the superintendent of a neighboring school system, Randy Freeman, and the county prosecutor, Laura McNish, who also represents the school board which employs Randy Freeman. Cinderella's former school offers no drama or forensics, but lots and lots of competitive contact sports. Randy Freeman has a school in his district with a wonderful drama department. Kansas has open enrollment, which means that any student can enroll in any district, theoretically, as long as the student can find his or her own transportation when transferring out of the student's own district. So Cinderella tried to transfer from the dull and lackluster Frankfort, with it's guns, drugs, and beer on school property, to Marysville. She is a wonderful student, and that is the only catch when requesting a transfer; the student must be in good standing.

Dean Dalinghaus and Laura McNish told Randy Freeman that Cinderella could not attend Marysville High. The drama department is only for very special Marshall County children with politically "just right" parents, not for Cinderella. Since Laura McNish not only prosecutes, but represents the school board, she has the power to scare board members into petty discrimination games...and it's a known fact in Marshall County that Laura McNish does not like Cinderella's mom, for personal reasons. Or Cinderella's dad. So while football players from other high schools, from within and from without Marshall County, transfer to Marysville High quite frequently, Cinderella has been told she cannot go to the ball. Marysville's drama department was too nice for someone whose parents typically vote Democrat and refuse to ignore our nations Constitution. Dean Dalinghaus also wanted to trap Cinderella in Frankfort, in order to keep those dollars rolling in for having as many students enrolled as possible, while providing as little classroom instruction as possible. As long as Laura McNish gets to sit on a courthouse computer all day, surfing social media websites and shopping online, she really does not care about the children in Frankfort, also in Marshall County, who are stuck with a substandard education. After all, if they play a good game of football, they can actually take advantage of open enrollment, which is supposed to be open to all Kansas students.

Laura McNish would make Marshall County Kansas a better place for everyone if she would just resign. Parents should not have to play politics with an elected official in order to get their children enrolled in school. Teachers and school administrators should not have to worry about playing stooge for the school's lawyer instead of teaching children. The glass slipper, in this case, drama and forensics, is a perfect fit for a very deserving Cinderella. She should be allowed to take advantage of a curriculum that can help her further her education, rather than forced to sit in a dingy building with substandard teachers and bullies who  bring guns to school during hunting season. After all, football players can go to the "ball". Why can't Cinderella go to the ball?

Cinderella's parents went ahead and enrolled all of their children elsewhere, completely bypassing the public schools in Kansas. This appears to be a bigger trend than they thought it would be; yet they are not surprised. They have also made a personal commitment to wait, if they ever use USD 380 again in the future, until after the date upon which the district will get it's coveted dollars per enrolled student to enroll their children in school. That way, Dean Dalinghaus would have a chance to prove that the money is not important.