Believe Me, The Teachers Are Not The Problem

So we had a community meeting yesterday to discuss the "outside partner" that will come in next year to take over the school. I think I said already that they are firing at least 50% of the staff, maybe more.

There were three companies to come in and make their presentations. They were allowed a twenty minute presentation time and then a ten minute question/answer period. If anything went over, this guy would cut them off because "we don't have time." Time for what exactly? To get all the answers we want out of these people that will take over our school? Oh, by the way, this meeting was yesterday afternoon from 3-5 on the FRIDAY BEFORE SPRING BREAK. We told the guy leading the whole thing that we would like to stay and continue asking questions but he said no.???.

We only had one parent in attendance. Granted, the only way anyone tried to advertise this meeting was through flyers sent home via students. But still. ONE. There was one parent and one other community member. He was there because the school is named after his father. No one else. Oh, except about 30 teachers. We're there to try and figure out what is best for the school, we have a vested interest, and yet half of us or more won't even be there next year.

All three presenters talked down to us like we're idiots who don't know how to do anything. Or that the answers are so simple and if we would just ENGAGE the parents and the students everything will work out. When we tried to ask for answers that weren't so politician-y, we got cut off because "time was up."

I don't know what people think goes on at these "failing schools" but somebody has seen Dangerous Minds one too many times. First of all, all the teachers in the building aren't apathetic losers that hand out worksheets everyday and then ignore the kids while playing solitaire on their computers. Second of all, we have tried our damnedest to get parents involved. Even on Parent Night, when we give away prizes and free food, play games and make crafts...only about 20 parents will show up. And of those twenty it's usually a couple of family groups, not 10 separate sets of people.

And finally, as one of the teachers pointed out last night: We have been a forgotten school. It has only been open four years. The first year we started out with no desks, chairs or money to buy those things. When we did finally get desks and chairs, they were from a school that had shut down and were covered in graffiti and gum and who knows what else. We didn't even have an ENTRANCE for the first year. That's right. There is another school that connects to ours and to get to our school you had to park in their parking lot, walk through their building and over into ours. Our principal will try to get long-term suspensions for students who hit teachers or set fires and half the time those suspensions won't be upheld and the kid comes right back. Our principal was fired last year and there's been no one to replace her (current principal doesn't even have the certification to BE a principal.) We lost an administrator to retirement and the City won't give us money in our budget to replace her. We have almost 30 kids per classroom and no money to hire more teachers. They froze the budget on March 18, so we don't have any money at all now. We're one of four remaining middle schools in the city and the only one on the east side. This means whenever a kid gets thrown out of another school (for any number of violations) they come right to us. I've had nine kids come to me this year who started out the year at an alternative school for bad behavior. (And that's just the 7th grade...I don't know about the school as a whole.) But despite all this, we have teachers who care and good, quality students who have been dealt a shit hand in life and we're trying to do what we can to help them succeed.

They beat us and beat us and beat us and then get mad when we have bruises.