Our public school tax dollars

The elementary school is running a survey so that the kids can identify their interests.  It’s a fine idea but, because I’m very picky, I’ve immediately honed in on a couple of problems.  Problem number one is that, in the cover letter, one paragraph boasts three grammatical errors, ranging from a mere aesthetic failure (a split infinitive) to that irksome subject/pronoun agreement problem.  Our schools educate badly because our teachers are badly educated.

Problem number two is that, of all the many, many career choices listed on the survey, the military is not included.  I noted that omission instantly because, at this phase in life, that is the career my child would choose.

As an aside, I have a comment about split infinitives.  Many view the whole split infinitive thing as an archaic rule that’s best abandoned.  (Wikipedia has a great article about split infinitives, here.)  For the most part, I try not to split my infinitives because, as I noted earlier, I find a split infinitive aesthetically unappealing.  I’ll give you a more practical reason for abiding by this old rule, though.  If you decide to rejoin your infinitive, you will find that you have an adverb that needs to go somewhere.  Relocating that adverb will often highlight the fact that there are other grammatical problems with the sentence, or that the sentence is otherwise unwieldy or ambiguous.  Thus, while the split infinitive itself may not be a problem, it’s often a little canary in the coalmine, giving an early warning that the sentence is somehow defective.