No more school...wrong.

[learnteach]

Decided a couple months ago--after some cogitation--that education, as a field, wasn't working. But to close the lose ends, I called the school I spent blood, sweat and tears at (literally) and asked why I had been dropped from the sub list; what had I done wrong? Nothing. Please come in, good to see you, check it out. (The office manager had changed jobs, and I was a "special" sub, and she misplaced my number, and and...) so anyway, worked their yesterday and today.

Night and day.

The bangers are gone. The wild kids...are normal HS problems, not carrying knives. Everyone is so much more relaxed. You can't see swarms of Nortenos forming up against the Sureno's invasion. The rest of the students aren't turtling around, ready to duck to someplace save.

The chem teacher has a lab, and performs them. The English(honors) sophomore class submits their assignments via wiki. A shade structure is going up in the central quad. There is a greater mix of ethnicities. The student body sponsored a musical chairs competition today, for free dress passes.

All the things I forsaw and fought for are happening, along with some other dreams. It's like heaven.

I get to go back on Tuesday.

I'm rethinking the "working in education" thing.

Comments

Good to hear

[kahnegabs.livejournal.com]

This is great. You are a fine teacher and it's a shame if your talents are not being used!

Hooray for improved situation too.

[ladybrid.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you might have a chance to teach somewhere less dramatic!

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

That's good to hear.

[dame-cordelia.livejournal.com]

What wonderful news. You are a good teacher and I am pleased this happened.

[acanthusleaf.livejournal.com]

Wow. I'm astonished to hear it, but this is great!

[shalmestere.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you had such a good experience--here's hoping it continues!

[aastg.livejournal.com]

That's wonderful! Isn't it great to be vindicated?

[judith-s.livejournal.com]

Yay! I wonder how they pulled it off with the impending budget cuts.

The greatest change

[learnteach.livejournal.com]

That pretty much made the whole difference, was expelling the gangbangers. There hasn't been a fight on campus in over a year, the staff doesn't spend a significant amount of time every day checking for colors and gangsign (small, but significant). The people who really did the work on this are the principal, Mr. Larry Vilaubi, and the Dean of Discipline, Mr. Daniel Poo, with of course the staff and teachers.

It totally changes the feel of the place. Of course, chemistry, with a lab, and access to computers so that the wiki assignment thing works are both vital.

Now, the two wierdnesses are: 1. Due to the budget cuts, the state isn't going to let any emergency credentials exist. Why should they? So, to go back to work, I'll have to complete a credential program. Hmm. Fish or cut bait, or get back out of the boat.

and 2. This Charter school was already hammered by budget cuts. A lot of money went to fixing up the campus enough to make it livable. I mean, being rented a site (from another school) with open sewage flows? So not a win.

Re: The greatest change

[martianfencer.livejournal.com]

How did they manage to throw out the gang members?

Re: The greatest change

[learnteach.livejournal.com]

Transgressions. Shaking them down. Hitting them with Tardyness suspensions. Lots and lots and lots of conferences and paperwork, basically...

[cathyn.livejournal.com]

Congrats, brother, I'm glad things are looking up.

[freewaydiva.livejournal.com]

Things have a funny way of working out for the best! Here's to joy and ease on your path! ::raises a virtual cocktail::

[dameroseline.livejournal.com]

That's awesome! Glad to hear things are better now. Let's just hope that it stays that way for you and that the Governat....er...government realizes that laying off teacher is the stupidest thing he can do right now. How about investing in our future and cutting back on some little-used social programs or something!

Ah, a different story

[learnteach.livejournal.com]

That's the thing--I'm already laid off; I'm working as a sub. Whether I go back into teaching depends on a bunch of different factors.

Truly, it's more home than engineering ever was, but I'm not home free there yet.

And public education, for those without children or using the private schools, is THE largest most expensive little-used social program around!

Re: Ah, a different story

[redsquirrel.livejournal.com]

And public education, for those without children or using the private schools, is THE largest most expensive little-used social program around!

HA! And just who do they think is going to pay for their Social Security and Medicare when they retire, hmmm?

So many are failing simple logic tests, such as:

better educated workers = better paid workers
higher wages earned = high payroll taxes collected
higher payroll taxes collected = more money for Social Security and Medicare

Peepuls r reely dum sumtimz.