Tales Out of School (Thanks, Pat Welsh!)

• Divided up the darlings for "Springtime Summer School." I can tell you right now - this isn't going to work. The 16 kids who were picked think they are in prison - and they are. Two hours of math and two hours of reading remediation because the county couldn't figure out finances for summer school. And I was involved in picking the kids we thought might not pass the Super Big State Test. Somebody's going to get sued.
• Got an email from the head douche telling us which order he's going to fire us in because the county couldn't figure out finances and he's $137 million in the red next year. Right now, they are looking to get rid of about 580 teachers in the district. The half time people and limited contract people found out in a mass email that their services weren't going to be needed next year. Oh, yeah - the Board changed the RIF policy LAST WEEK. To make it easier to get rid of us.
• My second student teacher will be leaving me after tomorrow. Damn. I hate when they leave.
• Can summer be far away? Is that Cancun calling me? You bet.

The Ship Sank

Elizabeth, my anonymous commenter, wanted to know why I continue in this chosen field if I'm so negative and I've been pondering that while we've been having conference week. So, as my teammates and I have been conferencing with the most difficult of the 5th graders and letting them and their parents know that they are heading toward doom, destruction and failure, I have been wondering why I keep doing this. (Best conference - some mama was upset because her son, who just came to us - who has failed third and fourth and fifth grade -this would be his second attempt at fifth - -wasn't allowed to leave the room at will to pee. Really, Mitchell? Really? I would have thought that your first cause of concern would have been about the fact that your 13 year old can't read or add. And that he's still in 5th grade.)

I have also been searching for another path - something to do that would be as fulfilling as this job once was before the President and the Governor and all types of legislators decided that they could tell me what and how - as if their professional judgment was somehow better than my 20 years in all different types of classrooms.

I've also been keeping my eye on a most troubled young man - one of the most troubled students I can say I have ever taught. Every day, someone in our school finds out something different about him and his three brothers in our school. They arrived at our school in early December because they had been thrown out of their apartment complex because the first grader and third or fourth grader had been vandalizing the place and gang fighting. (WTF? the first grader?) None of these boys is anywhere near grade level and heaven help my fifth grader, he appears to be helping to raise his younger brothers while his three older brothers are doing who knows what and his mama - a "professional singer" sleeps all day long. My student missed three days of school this week - couldn't get anyone to return a phone call for me - but word on the street was that he was in the hospital. When he returned on Thursday, he told me that he had an infection in his tooth and his jaw was swollen almost shut. Had to have antibiotics - and will need to have a root canal. Uh - holy mandated reporter call. Find the social worker - I can't imagine how much this hurt and how long it had bothered him before this infection blew up.

So, why do I do this? It goes like this: before BrownBear entered kindergarten, it came down to what was I going to do while both of them were in school. I was a school teacher before the girls were born. I had taught junior college part time and preschool part time after they were born, but now, they were both going to be gone for huge chunks of time. I could help my family by going back full time (and staying out of the Target), especially since LawyerBoy is self-employed and one thing teachers usually get is insurance. We'll see how that goes from now on.

I had some extremely conservative friends who were homeschoolers and they were appalled by my decision - first of all to even send my children to school (really? you should see how well adjusted their kids are now) and second that I would even consider going back to work myself. But what they didn't understand was how lucky our children have it - Prep and BrownBear have never wanted for our attention or for food or medical attention or material things. But my friends couldn't believe that there were children who went without - I guess - and that was one of my other reasons. Who would take care of the kids who didn't have anyone? I could make a dent - and that's the rub. Here we are, trying to make a difference and our difference doesn't matter to those people in charge.

I'm not trying to get rich trying to teach. I'm trying to keep my house heated, my children fed and clothed and keep my insurance.

What I need people in office to realize is that I am as much of a professional as they are. I care for the future of this country. I don't need you to tell me how to do my job or for you to balance your budget on my back.

And yesterday, the Superintendent - the one who took a $25,000 raise this past year, told us, after holding back our step increases and having us take a 2% decrease in our salaries - that we were going to be furloughed three days.

So, thanks for the vote of confidence. Thanks for that thumbs up. Thanks. While you might not be elected to office, your entire school board, especially the members whose heads are so far up your ass, they can't talk until you open your mouth, are up for re-election. We're gearing up to throw you out. And we're just starting with the school board. The legislature and the governor are next.

Is Anybody There? Does Anybody Care?

The superintendent dropped the bomb yesterday - they are looking at a 2% pay cut across the board. Of course, he couched it with we're trying to save teacher jobs, so if you complain you're getting a pay cut, you look like you'd prefer that someone would lose his job. He also said that 12% of the central office was going.

The central office is top heavy. Fifty percent of the central office could go and no one would miss them. I pulled the district website up the other day and opened up department after department and looked at the number of assistant superintendents, associate superintendents, area assistant superintendents, directors of curriculum (which are broken down by subject and grade level) and the sheer number of secretaries that each of these people have. But have you ever tried calling one of these people? You never get a real person. I don't know where their secretaries are but someone's voicemail always picks up.

In a related story, I read today that Teach for America applications are up by 42% this year. I jumped headlong into teaching without any teacher prep and it was a huge mistake for me; I don't think anyone benefitted from my first year teaching.

My gripe: TFA teachers get paid by the local school districts. I'm sure it's cheaper to pay TFA teachers than it is to pay regular teachers who have been around for years. I'm facing a pay cut and college grads with no experience are getting teaching jobs because it will look good on their resumes for grad school. And please don't start griping to me about Michelle Rhee - she doesn't have any background in education, either. Her Bachelor’s degree in Government from Cornell University and Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University don't impress me. She taught for three years in TFA. If you want to impress me, dig in and stay with a classroom for a while. Get your freaking credentials. I could probably go and fire a whole bunch of teachers and principals if someone appointed me chancellor or superintendent of a school district.

I've been trying to get a seat on the Professional Standards Commission but as I have found, it isn't what you've accomplished, it is who you know and how much money you've donated to the campaign.

So, imagine how much dollar Michelle dropped to get where she is today.

All this to say, I'm getting a pay cut, but college grads are getting our jobs with no credentials so they can "make a difference." What the hell have I done every day for twenty years?