| Chronology | Current Month | Current Thread | Current Date |
| [Year List] [Month List (current year)] | [Date Index] [Thread Index] | [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] | [Date Prev] [Date Next] |
Everything you say is rational, agreeable, and makes perfect sense. The reality is somewhat different. Most of the teachers I worked with were dedicated, talented individuals caught in circumstances that were intolerable, to say the least. The best ones were the middle-class, middle-age ladies: Black, White, and Hispanic, who were sometimes near tears when they saw what went on there. These ladies worked so hard to instill values into some of those kids only to get rebuffed and disrespected at every turn. The fault lies in many places and on many heads, not the least was the promotion system where the administrators were chosen. Nepotism, cronyism, and incompetence at the top made this city seem like old time Tammany Hall. I can only write about this particular city, although many others operate the same way. Most teachers want to do well, but are stymied at every turn by administrators whose cousins are on the board, or who want to see only good p.r. in the papers. Don't fail anyone; don't send too many to the office; keep your mouth shut and your door shut. Remember, I taught physics, so much of this didn't apply to me; however, the game was afoot for those 9th grade teachers who dealt with the ones who cut classes, got into fights daily, dissed their teachers and fellow students, or who stood around outside smoking blunts and went down the street to do "their thing."Try living the life for real !
I take that to mean that we have a certain situation and it can't
change. I have never taught in an inner city or otherwise poor-
socioeconomic school, but I have worked with teachers, and observed
the goings on, in such schools. I recently visited a school in
Nashville where there were feces in all the urinals. The students who
helped me in setting up for my workshops (this was an honor position
for the students) could not, for the most part, compose a
grammatically correct sentence. I agree with most of what you said in
your post, but that doesn't mean we should just sit back and say
that's the way it is. Why should any teacher have to do his or her job
in a "war zone"? If you don't want motivated students to receive
vouchers to escape their situation, then why should we not work to
clean up the schools they're in, so they can learn without major
disruptions? Not only are schools pressured to accept students who
have been expelled, it is almost unheard of for students to fail
classes and have to repeat a grade. We end up "graduating" students
who can't read and write. If students graduate without even being able
to function in society, what's the point in keeping them in schools to
the detriment of students who want to be there?