Teaching rant #2

*I do plan to turn this in. That is why I feel comfortable posting it here. My boss will see it soon enough.


To PRINCIPAL:

I am not a new teacher. Before I lived in LA I taught for four years in rural North Carolina. I made it through the dreaded fifth year last year here at _________ High School and stayed on when almost a third of the teachers moved somewhere else to escape the violence and disorganization we experienced last year. I love my kids and I show up on time and prepared and with enough energy to carry through the day. I'm proud to say that my students stand out because they can write essays like nobody else's kids. They learn from me. I do my job.

But this year I find myself caring less and less. I was not happy to switch tracks and give up my summer, but I did it. Then I agreed to take on a class during what was left of my vacation, partially as a favor to the school so that you wouldn't have to use a string of subsitutes. We all know what that does to a class. Now I'm a travelling teacher. No problem. Better me than someone new.

Then we started signing in every morning in the office. If we're a couple of minutes late we get our pay docked. I didn't realize we were paid by the hour. If we are, shouldn't I get extra pay for staying late to grade papers? Or all the hours I work from home? I don't say this because I plan to be late. I'm almost never late for anything, but I do resent the feeling of Big Brother looking over my shoulder and expecting me to screw up.

Then we were told we couldn't go into the office. Fine, I rarely need to anyway. But when a teacher does need something from the office staff at this school they receive an extremely rude reception. Every time I have to ask one of the secretaries anything I am treaed as a burden, getting in the way of whatever it is they had to do to run the school. The last time I called the school to inform ________ I would be out sick and needed a sub since I'm not in the Subfinder system, she acted irritated by my existence and hung up on me. My crime? Asking her to do her job, and I did it very politely.

I can deal with this. I'm a teacher; I've been through worse. Being treated like a child is sort of expected. But I and at least 20 other teachers didn't get paid properly last month. You never need to doubt my commmitment to the kids, that's for certain. But I do not show up to school every day just for them. I am a professional and I do expect to be paid for my time, particularly since I gave up my vacation. Instead of giving thanks for the job I do and a promise to find out the source of the problem so that it can be corrected, you yelled at me in front of other teachers for having the audacity to want the money I already earned. I was not actually discussing the matter with you at the time. You overheard half a conversation and assumed you knew the rest.

I have never had a boss insult me that way and I did nothing to deserve it. I have been nothing but loyal, defending your methods to others when the subject comes up at lunch or around the building, even when I got no support or supplies or a budget for the yearbook.

Speaking of yearbook, I have requested many times and from many different sources that we get some equipment. I can make a yearbook on a shoestring budget, but I cannot make a yearbook on no budget. I have received absolutely nothing from you in the way of help. Every single piece of equipment I have I've had to beg, borrow or steal. I don't even have money to buy batteries for the camera that I had to beg from Jostens. On top of that students keep getting added to my class daily, thrown into a class they don't want to be in. Yearbook is not English. If the kids don't want to be there, there is nothing I can do with them.

I know the disrict has mandated that we keep taking kids, but it's destroying the control teachers have in their classrooms. I spent the last three weeks building up the rapport in my third period, working with a large group of gang members to get them to read and respect the rules of my class. Then last week the counselors threw in a student who is possibly one of the most obnoxious people I've ever met. He has no loyalty to me and has completely thrown off the rhythm of my class. I'm exhausted from dealing with him, and since I know I won't have a vacation until March I don't really feel like the exhaustion is ever going to end because all I see is more problems like this one.

Each of these problems is manageable. All of them together make this place almost intolerable. We are not respected here. Words mean nothing to us if nobody backs them up. In five years of teaching I have never thought of leaving the profession. This morning I started looking for jobs in other industries.

I'm writing this because I hope it doesn't come to that. I hope you will see what the attitude at this school has done to the teaching population here. This school does not run without us, yet we are slowly being driven away. It's difficult enough for new teachers to survive in a school where they are treated with respect. Why would they ever come back here?

I'm asking you to really explore the policies you have implimented this year. We are just like the kids in some respects. If you respect us we'll do anything for you. Right now we are not respected. Just like in the classroom, that will only lead to chaos and anger. And right now we are not happy.

Thank you for your time. I hope this hasn't fallen on deaf ears.

Sincerely,

Emily Blake
B-Track English