Enough is enough!
My classroom was made available to me Th afternoon. The 38 student desks and chairs that I will need are now in the room. Space for walking is limited. Literally, I have about 2' maneuvering space between the student desks and the walls. That's tight. Once I have my sixth graders in there, movement will be limited. I will have a single computer in the classroom. So far, I don't have an overhead projector. Some of the supplies I ordered were delivered to the classroom, but the bulk of the materials is on backorder.
Yesterday was a staff development day. I went into my room at 8 a.m., just to check the status of "what's there, what's not there." No change. I turned the air conditioner on and left for my meeting. When I returned to my room at 11 a.m. the room was hot. The air conditioner was off. I turned it back on again, took a trip to the book room to pick up student texts, and when I returned, the room was hot. In fact, it was hotter. The thermostat read 90ºF. I took off for lunch--a quick trip to the market-- returned to the classroom and the thermostat read 96º. The fucking air conditioner was blowing nothing but air. I started to cry right then and there. I then went to the principal and informed her of the cooling problem. She assured me that it would be taken care of by Tuesday morning. If not fixed by the end of next week, I was told, I would be moved to the main building and remain there until the bungalow's air conditioner gets fixed.
This situation is not unique to me. I wish I could say that. But it's not. It's happening to other teachers in California.
Look, I work in an affluent city and in a well respected school district. Yet, the conditions that many of us are working in--Glendale and everywhere else in this state-- resemble conditions you hear about in developing countries. In the elementary school I last worked at, we worked in bungalows that were being eaten by termites. Roaches, believe it or not, were receiving a free K-6 education. Every classroom had them. Now I'm in a school were there is a dearth of everything. My computer for example is a frankenstein of parts cannibalized from other not-so-lucky computers. I have to beg to get things for my room and for my students. And now I have to cram 38 students into a room that was meant for no more than 20 students and hope, HOPE, that I don't have to deal with a medical emergency because the room doesn't have air conditioning.
One way to get rid of public education is by killing it slowly. Che Guevara was killed this way in Bolivia, tortured slowly (quema ropa), deliberately, and completely. His captors were sadistic and inhumane to the extreme. The same thing is happening to California's schools. The physical body of public education is being starved of money and resources. It's being cut up and neglected. As one part of the system atrophies and fails, another part of the system goes into shock, exhaustion, atrophy, and failure. Eventually, the whole thing will die. Detractors of public education are quick to say, "Well, the system is sick and deserves to die." They're wrong.
If we want a decent education for our students, K-public university, we have to support it with resources. That means money, leadership, community involvement. If it is dysfunctional--and it is-- there has to be a deliberate and concerted effort to address those issues in a substantive manner. If we don't attend to this sick child, it will die. The only way out, at this point, is a massive transfusion of tax money. We need to fund the solution.
I assure you, private schools aren't necessarily better than public schools. The market will not effectively separate the wheat from the chaff and eliminate the lousy schools; indeed, inferior schools will continue to exist, just as before.
If public education is allowed to atrophy and die, the privatization of education will be disastrous. The rich will be able to afford the best (think $20-30k for a single academic year at a high school). The dwindling middle class will send their kids to schools in the mid-range ($10-20k). And the rest of the masses? Where will they send their kids? They will send their kids to the educational equivalent of a 99 cents store. Is this the solution? Think about it.
In the meantime, Prop 13 has to die and property taxes should be raised.
If you are a parent, help your kid's teacher and school. Join the PTA or get involved in any way to advocate for improvement.
If you don't have kids, volunteer at your neighborhood school or library. Vote for progressive candidates. Participate in the discourse.
Enough is enough!
Yesterday was a staff development day. I went into my room at 8 a.m., just to check the status of "what's there, what's not there." No change. I turned the air conditioner on and left for my meeting. When I returned to my room at 11 a.m. the room was hot. The air conditioner was off. I turned it back on again, took a trip to the book room to pick up student texts, and when I returned, the room was hot. In fact, it was hotter. The thermostat read 90ºF. I took off for lunch--a quick trip to the market-- returned to the classroom and the thermostat read 96º. The fucking air conditioner was blowing nothing but air. I started to cry right then and there. I then went to the principal and informed her of the cooling problem. She assured me that it would be taken care of by Tuesday morning. If not fixed by the end of next week, I was told, I would be moved to the main building and remain there until the bungalow's air conditioner gets fixed.
This situation is not unique to me. I wish I could say that. But it's not. It's happening to other teachers in California.
Look, I work in an affluent city and in a well respected school district. Yet, the conditions that many of us are working in--Glendale and everywhere else in this state-- resemble conditions you hear about in developing countries. In the elementary school I last worked at, we worked in bungalows that were being eaten by termites. Roaches, believe it or not, were receiving a free K-6 education. Every classroom had them. Now I'm in a school were there is a dearth of everything. My computer for example is a frankenstein of parts cannibalized from other not-so-lucky computers. I have to beg to get things for my room and for my students. And now I have to cram 38 students into a room that was meant for no more than 20 students and hope, HOPE, that I don't have to deal with a medical emergency because the room doesn't have air conditioning.
One way to get rid of public education is by killing it slowly. Che Guevara was killed this way in Bolivia, tortured slowly (quema ropa), deliberately, and completely. His captors were sadistic and inhumane to the extreme. The same thing is happening to California's schools. The physical body of public education is being starved of money and resources. It's being cut up and neglected. As one part of the system atrophies and fails, another part of the system goes into shock, exhaustion, atrophy, and failure. Eventually, the whole thing will die. Detractors of public education are quick to say, "Well, the system is sick and deserves to die." They're wrong.
If we want a decent education for our students, K-public university, we have to support it with resources. That means money, leadership, community involvement. If it is dysfunctional--and it is-- there has to be a deliberate and concerted effort to address those issues in a substantive manner. If we don't attend to this sick child, it will die. The only way out, at this point, is a massive transfusion of tax money. We need to fund the solution.
I assure you, private schools aren't necessarily better than public schools. The market will not effectively separate the wheat from the chaff and eliminate the lousy schools; indeed, inferior schools will continue to exist, just as before.
If public education is allowed to atrophy and die, the privatization of education will be disastrous. The rich will be able to afford the best (think $20-30k for a single academic year at a high school). The dwindling middle class will send their kids to schools in the mid-range ($10-20k). And the rest of the masses? Where will they send their kids? They will send their kids to the educational equivalent of a 99 cents store. Is this the solution? Think about it.
In the meantime, Prop 13 has to die and property taxes should be raised.
If you are a parent, help your kid's teacher and school. Join the PTA or get involved in any way to advocate for improvement.
If you don't have kids, volunteer at your neighborhood school or library. Vote for progressive candidates. Participate in the discourse.
Enough is enough!