I'm in bizarro world
Things are so backwards right now. You'd think having the summer off would be a good thing right? WRONG!! It drives me nuts when people make comments about teaching being lucky because they have off over the summer. These people are dingbats. Recently, parents bitched and complained because the schools wanted to open earlier this year. Their big complaint was that it cut into their vacation time.
This is where my rant about the state of education in this country begins
When you tell me that parents don't want an earlier start date because it cuts into vacation time, I have to wonder who these parents are. I've been teaching four years now and usually I have 2 maybe 3 kids that actually go somwhere over summer break, let alone the last two weeks of summer vacation. Is this an occurance just at my school? Doughtful! Problem is that it is muffy and buffy wanting to take their kids to a ski resort that are making the fuss. Well what kind of shit is that? These overprivilaged little brats need their week at a ski resort so we can't start school until they come back? Bullshit! While the majority of students are sitting home or roming the streets getting into trouble these little bastards are going on vacation. Fucking keep your kids out of school for the first week if that is such an IMPORTANT trip to take. It is amazing that a small precentage of privilaged people get to make decisions for everyone. But, I don't just blame the privilaged. No! The problem is that no one will stand up and fight against this shit. Parents just throw up their hands and say "oh fuck it, just watch tv for one more week". Then they are suprised when their kids aren't ready for higher education. I am beyond shocked by how much shit people allow others to heap on them. When did people become so disallusioned with everything that they started to believe that nothing can ever be done. You remember when people DID something when they disagreed with their government? Anyone remember the national gaurd having to step in and force the public to except desegeration? You remember when teachers refused to go to work until a fair and equal contract could be sorted out? I mean hell, people used to protest, campain, picket, write letters, start petitions and anything else to be heard. How do the children of that generation repay their parents hard work and scarfice? By allowing what they fought for to die. Teachers and treated like scum in our society. We are treated like we don't matter. Society openly mocks us and underminds our efforts to teach and educate. We are degraded infront of our youth to the point that very few respect teachers anymore. Now, some will say that many teacher don't command or deserve respect, but I contend that society has painted teachers as such a low profession that child don't respect us no matter what are skills are. I can tell you from first hand experience that I have heard students say things like "so what, I'll call my mom and get you fired then what are you gonna do?" or "You're only a teacher". My favorite comment this year though came from an administrator not a student "Well, her parents are known to go directly to the superintendant and make a fuss so lets just pass her and save ourselves the hassle". What kind of crap is that? I can't really blame the administration becasue they can't continue to fight a war that they can't win. We are fighting with bows and arrows against an enemy that has nuclear weapons.
Now, one could say "If you see this as a problem why don't you have your union do somethign about it". That is a good question, why not? Because our union is a joke. When this state pass a no-strike rule, the union loss all power. We can not do anything anymore. We can write letters all day and night and walk around the KC Write building till we are blue in the face, but no one cares. Think about this, two years ago we were in the middle of a contract dispute. Teachers gathered around KCW and picketed. A large crowd came out and walked around the KCW building in protest of our treatment. Did anyone that isn't a teacher notice? NOPE! Did anyone care? Nope! Did it solve anything? NOPE! Guess how many media outlets covered it? 2! Channel seven ran a 2 minute peice on it during the 10 o'clock news as the last bit before the signed off. The sun-sentiel ran a two paragraph story and burried it in the back of the lifestyle section.
I love teaching and I love my students. Most people hear what I have to say and tell me "if you hate it so much why are you teaching?" Because I might hate my treatment, but contrary to popular thought, I love teaching. I love my kids and I love what I do. What gets me is when they blame teachers for the current state of education when they pay us so little that studies have show that 65% of teachers in their first ten years need second jobs to be able to afford to survive. Now think about that. An teacher with 110 kids has 110 essays to grade, or science projects to evaluate, or book reports to correct. When is their time for that when they come home and go right back out to their second job? I hear people complain about having to work 9 to 5, well screw that how about working 8 to whenever you can get your papers done? How about having a schedule where your only end time is whenever you can no long see straight because your so tired. I've gone to work after pulling an all-nighter becasue I had to get essays graded. It is crazy.
Florida is near the bottom when it comes to education and it is no wonder why. We disrespect our teachers, we don't pay them enough to get by, and we blame them for our childrens short commings rather than looking inward at your parenting.
Sadly, no one cares about this. I am willing to bet maybe two people will actually read all of what I wrote. No one will ever hear the real problems because no one wants to. Sure, I could send this into the editorial part of the newspaper, but then we run into the other problem with teaching. Those that do speak up, don't last very long. Is it worth the little ammount of money we make to make people see what is wrong? No! Because history has proven that year people might be upset, but they still won't do anything. So here we sit at a crossroads waiting for someone or something to show us the way to go. Problem is that we have been sitting here for decades now. We have been sitting at this four way stop looking for any sign of the right way to go. Is their hope? No, sadly.
So I say to anyone that reads this, now you know the problem now you hear what needs to change. Spread the word. If you need to repost this, then do it. If you need to print this out and show it to people then do it. I have left any hint of my name or school out so that unless my friends "who are the only ones that can read my journal" screw me over by putting my name to this, I'll be safe. Hell just tell people, you don't have to show them anything, just speak up. I have had the same goal since the day I graduated college, I will be Superintendant one day. When that day comes things will change, but that is a long way off my friends. For now we must fight. We must fight for our children, we must fight for our society, we must fight for all that is right in the world, but most of all we must fight for our future becasue it is quickly slipping away from us.
This is where my rant about the state of education in this country begins
When you tell me that parents don't want an earlier start date because it cuts into vacation time, I have to wonder who these parents are. I've been teaching four years now and usually I have 2 maybe 3 kids that actually go somwhere over summer break, let alone the last two weeks of summer vacation. Is this an occurance just at my school? Doughtful! Problem is that it is muffy and buffy wanting to take their kids to a ski resort that are making the fuss. Well what kind of shit is that? These overprivilaged little brats need their week at a ski resort so we can't start school until they come back? Bullshit! While the majority of students are sitting home or roming the streets getting into trouble these little bastards are going on vacation. Fucking keep your kids out of school for the first week if that is such an IMPORTANT trip to take. It is amazing that a small precentage of privilaged people get to make decisions for everyone. But, I don't just blame the privilaged. No! The problem is that no one will stand up and fight against this shit. Parents just throw up their hands and say "oh fuck it, just watch tv for one more week". Then they are suprised when their kids aren't ready for higher education. I am beyond shocked by how much shit people allow others to heap on them. When did people become so disallusioned with everything that they started to believe that nothing can ever be done. You remember when people DID something when they disagreed with their government? Anyone remember the national gaurd having to step in and force the public to except desegeration? You remember when teachers refused to go to work until a fair and equal contract could be sorted out? I mean hell, people used to protest, campain, picket, write letters, start petitions and anything else to be heard. How do the children of that generation repay their parents hard work and scarfice? By allowing what they fought for to die. Teachers and treated like scum in our society. We are treated like we don't matter. Society openly mocks us and underminds our efforts to teach and educate. We are degraded infront of our youth to the point that very few respect teachers anymore. Now, some will say that many teacher don't command or deserve respect, but I contend that society has painted teachers as such a low profession that child don't respect us no matter what are skills are. I can tell you from first hand experience that I have heard students say things like "so what, I'll call my mom and get you fired then what are you gonna do?" or "You're only a teacher". My favorite comment this year though came from an administrator not a student "Well, her parents are known to go directly to the superintendant and make a fuss so lets just pass her and save ourselves the hassle". What kind of crap is that? I can't really blame the administration becasue they can't continue to fight a war that they can't win. We are fighting with bows and arrows against an enemy that has nuclear weapons.
Now, one could say "If you see this as a problem why don't you have your union do somethign about it". That is a good question, why not? Because our union is a joke. When this state pass a no-strike rule, the union loss all power. We can not do anything anymore. We can write letters all day and night and walk around the KC Write building till we are blue in the face, but no one cares. Think about this, two years ago we were in the middle of a contract dispute. Teachers gathered around KCW and picketed. A large crowd came out and walked around the KCW building in protest of our treatment. Did anyone that isn't a teacher notice? NOPE! Did anyone care? Nope! Did it solve anything? NOPE! Guess how many media outlets covered it? 2! Channel seven ran a 2 minute peice on it during the 10 o'clock news as the last bit before the signed off. The sun-sentiel ran a two paragraph story and burried it in the back of the lifestyle section.
I love teaching and I love my students. Most people hear what I have to say and tell me "if you hate it so much why are you teaching?" Because I might hate my treatment, but contrary to popular thought, I love teaching. I love my kids and I love what I do. What gets me is when they blame teachers for the current state of education when they pay us so little that studies have show that 65% of teachers in their first ten years need second jobs to be able to afford to survive. Now think about that. An teacher with 110 kids has 110 essays to grade, or science projects to evaluate, or book reports to correct. When is their time for that when they come home and go right back out to their second job? I hear people complain about having to work 9 to 5, well screw that how about working 8 to whenever you can get your papers done? How about having a schedule where your only end time is whenever you can no long see straight because your so tired. I've gone to work after pulling an all-nighter becasue I had to get essays graded. It is crazy.
Florida is near the bottom when it comes to education and it is no wonder why. We disrespect our teachers, we don't pay them enough to get by, and we blame them for our childrens short commings rather than looking inward at your parenting.
Sadly, no one cares about this. I am willing to bet maybe two people will actually read all of what I wrote. No one will ever hear the real problems because no one wants to. Sure, I could send this into the editorial part of the newspaper, but then we run into the other problem with teaching. Those that do speak up, don't last very long. Is it worth the little ammount of money we make to make people see what is wrong? No! Because history has proven that year people might be upset, but they still won't do anything. So here we sit at a crossroads waiting for someone or something to show us the way to go. Problem is that we have been sitting here for decades now. We have been sitting at this four way stop looking for any sign of the right way to go. Is their hope? No, sadly.
So I say to anyone that reads this, now you know the problem now you hear what needs to change. Spread the word. If you need to repost this, then do it. If you need to print this out and show it to people then do it. I have left any hint of my name or school out so that unless my friends "who are the only ones that can read my journal" screw me over by putting my name to this, I'll be safe. Hell just tell people, you don't have to show them anything, just speak up. I have had the same goal since the day I graduated college, I will be Superintendant one day. When that day comes things will change, but that is a long way off my friends. For now we must fight. We must fight for our children, we must fight for our society, we must fight for all that is right in the world, but most of all we must fight for our future becasue it is quickly slipping away from us.