This is less about parenting (well, it IS about parenting, as you'll see) and more about our incredible society in general.
http://nypost.com/2016/01/17/my-year-of-terror-and-abuse-teaching-at-a-nyc-high-school/
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Wow. I actually applied for NY Teaching Fellows a few years back and I'm kind of glad I didn't get in. I just tendon the think I could handle that. That reminds me of The Wire, even though it's fictional but probably pretty realistic.
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@Anagram: Have you read it? I would love to read it, if I had someone to talk about it with!
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yikes. I would love to read it but it sounds horrific! I know a kid who was a teacher in NYC after college and apparently a few of his students ended up following him home and robbing him at gunpoint after school one day.
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@looch: no, just that article. But I LOVE that for once, it's not the "hero teacher comes in a saves the day" trope that is trotted out so often in our society that thinks the "problem" with public education are the "lazy teachers".
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My first 5 years teaching were in a super low income school district and although it wasn't THIS bad, it was pretty bad, and it was only kept in order by a lot of school-wide discipline and the fact that we could, and did, send kids to the district "alternative" school, expel them, etc.
The very first week I ever taught, I had an 8th grader with an ankle monitor because he'd already been in Juvie and was just released; I had a 6th grade ask another 6th grader for a "Bl#w job" (how does an 11 year old even know what that is?), and my second year I had a former student killed in a shoot out with police.
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My friend and my husband would have so much to say about this. They are both NYC high school teachers.
I think one of the problems with Teaching Fellows and TFA is throwing these people into the most underserved schools and neighborhoods...these people don't have the training or experience to deal with some of the kids.
Also, the NYC public school system is one of the most segregated school systems in the country.
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@psw27: OMG
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I had a friend that taught in a similar situation - books ripped up in class, doors taken off the hinges, parents that threatened to beat her up, students that threatened to kill her. She didn't stay there long. For the most part the language didn't bother her but the threats did bc teachers had been beat up, she was taking over for a teacher who had been beat up. But one day the principal came down and yelled at her and mocked her in front of the students when she asked to have a student removed from her class. So she left a couple days later. Crappy administration in a crappy school is dangerous.
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I didn't read the whole thing, but the fact that he wrote a book about this makes me uneasy.
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My parents were both inner-city school teachers for 35 years (but not in NYC). They had kids throwing the class fish tank out of the window, kids tearing up books, kids threatening to kill them (and themselves), kids having sex in stairwells, abusive parents, calls from CPS, runaways showing up our house, etc etc. Administration was usually highly ineffective, and by the end of their careers my parents felt that their jobs had basically been reduced to "crowd control." However, they were very committed to teaching, and sometimes had shining moments of success. They really took issue with TFA and other programs that drop sheltered, inexperienced, unprepared teachers into situations like this.
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@Maysprout: "Crappy administration in a crappy school is dangerous." Amen!! My husband's principal used to do similar things and it horrified me, as a fellow teacher. How are students supposed to respect a teacher, if the principal disrespects them publicly?! DH also got a concussion from a student at this school and was regularly cussed at (called a motherf-er, etc. ). Multiple kids on probations and multiple times where assault charges had to be filed between students or students on teachers.
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@BKCaribBaby: what's wrong with writing about his experiences?
Just read the whole thing. How awful. I can't imagine.
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@mrsjazz: yeah, totally agree. That's another thing I really dislike--all the programs that put people with any college degree in the classroom. It's not that I don't think those people *can* do it, it's that I think they need more training before going into the classroom, and a lot more support while they are in the classroom.
And yeah, as an educator, I immediately noticed the things he did "wrong", like you just don't confront a kid like that in front of the class before you've even tried to build a connection with them.
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@mrsjazz: @Anagram: there's also a problem from the other side, a lot of people who apply for things like TFA aren't doing it for the right reasons, and don't have the long view (and like you said, the training and support) needed to succeed. If I'm just doing something for 2 years to get student loans forgiven, how committed can I be? It has a whiff of poverty tourism about it.
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@MoonMoon: while I don't disagree with problems in teach for America, schools still need teachers. In some districts one of the methods to cut costs is to encourage the higher paid, tenured treachers to retire. This lets room for inexperienced, lower paid teachers. It's of course not ideal but it is reality. I don't think my friend was a poverty tourist, though she was a fairly new teacher and I guess she was more well off than most of the kids she taught, but so were all the teachers at the school. She lived less than a mile away from the school she taught and had for years. But even though she didn't suceed in sticking around the teachers that did stick around weren't any more effective at teaching. I don't know what the answer is either, but I do know that the problems are a lot deeper than teach for America.
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@MoonMoon: I don't think it's as simple as saying that ppl aren't doing it for the right reasons. This sounds like a job that is beyond tough and I can completely understand why some ppl may not last. My first attorney job was for the NYC children services. I went into it bright eyed and full of hope, thinking I could change some kids' lives for the better.
It was such a soul wrecking job. I lasted a year before I burned out. I developed anxiety, cried constantly, was miserable the entire time. I went into with all the best intentions. And most of my coworkers also burned out and lasted 2-3 years at most. There's a reason why the turnover rate is so bad.
Oh and you also get loan forgiveness if you stick w legal public sector jobs for 10 years I think.
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@Maysprout: I agree that problems run deeper, and even though certain individual teachers like your friend are good, the problems (insufficient funding for public schools, segregated school districts, denigration of the teaching profession, etc) need to be addressed.
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@pinkcupcake: that's exactly what I'm saying, that the problems are so systemic and deep that throwing some young, idealistic, but untrained and unsupported teachers into the mix isn't going to solve them. I didn't mean to dismiss every individual who is involved, though I do think many are involved with unrealistic expectations or for the wrong reasons.
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I'm not highly involved in the educational system, aside from my personal experience as a student and navigating the public school system with my LO, who will start preschool in a few months, but I read stuff like this and think what on earth can the public school system do if there is no support at home?!
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I currently teach in an inner city school (not in NYC but another major US city). I tend to agree with the posters above that admin makes such a difference. We have a consistent behavior management plan, a lot of PD opportunities and are listened to by admin. Our children are also never alone - even bathroom breaks are monitored. We also have cameras in every location that as teachers we have access to.
As a result, there is very little violence and in general our school is very calm, positive and orderly. I've taught in suburban schools and, while I face some more challenging behaviour on occasion, the admin support means that I never feel out of my depth. Our kids test scores are comparable to the kids in the high income suburbs and we're currently ranked #2 for public or charter schools in our city.
In the general area there is a significant pay disparity between schools and districts. If I taught at the school next door I'd have a significant pay rise (literally next door). There is no way I'd change though - supportive, competent admin has such an impact on my quality of life as a teacher.
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TBH this sounds just like the school my husband taught at a few years ago. We went to a rough high school (95% on free lunches, gang fights, regular arrests, riots, overcrowding, etc.) but he taught at a school where I worried every single day for his safety. One of his fellow teachers had PTSD from being stalked/threatened by the family of a student. They would try to light the classroom on fire almost every day. The parents of students had come onto campus to beat up students. He had to call CPS several times because there were rumors a girl's uncle was prostituting her.
This school is what made my husband decide to teach in a private school and I am glad every day that now driving to work is the most dangerous part of his day.
It was really hard on our marriage because of the guilt and grief he felt at leaving the kids, and his complete inability to help any of them. Ultimately he wasn't the right kind of person. He was the son of a cop, he was white, he grew up with married parents who loved and cared for him. There were too many obstacles for him and the kids just saw him as another white man trying to tell them they were worthless.
This is the kind of thing that makes me feel so so helpless! And I really have no idea what anyone can do to help these pockets of poverty and violence.
I guess I don't really have anything constructive to say. I just get so worked up about this stuff.
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