Okay, I just need to vent a bit about this Kool-Aid drinker and his adoration for "AAA". If I see those triple As again I'm going to scream. If I have to read his self-important posts, written from the skewed viewpoint of a new, highly- touted charter school, I'm going to tear my hair out.
I feel better...
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Two posts in one day!
I just found myself over on the Sun website, reading some of the reader responses to what's going on in BCPSS. I really need to stay away because my blood pressure soars after reading the racist comments by so many ignoramuses. I've never been exposed to attitudes like that before in my life. I know that bigots abound, but to be confronted with so many of them is so disconcerting. I'd like to believe that our society has evolved since the 1950s and 1960s. I'd like to believe that we have made progress in the way of race relations - after all, we have a black man who could well be our next president.
What hurts me the most is the comments where people refer to our students as "animals" and that they belong in the zoo and that they are all drug dealers. I suspect these comments are made by people who consider themselves to be good Christians, too. They don't understand compassion for others. They don't realize that we are all in this big, scary world together and we need to do whatever we can to make sure our students - all of them - have a fighting chance in this world. Our society depends upon it, our world depends upon it.
What hurts me the most is the comments where people refer to our students as "animals" and that they belong in the zoo and that they are all drug dealers. I suspect these comments are made by people who consider themselves to be good Christians, too. They don't understand compassion for others. They don't realize that we are all in this big, scary world together and we need to do whatever we can to make sure our students - all of them - have a fighting chance in this world. Our society depends upon it, our world depends upon it.
Trying again!
I guess I have a hard time believing that anyone really wants to read masturbary musings by some anonymous blogger. I have to remind myself that I read others' blogs, so perhaps there is an audience out there. Regardless, I suppose I can just treat this as a catharsis, something akin to my diaries of yore.
This fall I began my 15th year as a BCPSS teacher. In the fall of 1994 I was one of a group of teachers, mostly career changers, who saw ourselves as catalysts for change. We were not young idealists, but older, experienced adults who felt that we had something to offer the students of Baltimore. Of the 50+ individuals I started out with, 3 or 4 of us are left. I am on my way out as soon as I can secure other employment. It makes me sad. Very sad.
I cannot say that it's the students who are causing me to leave. Their behavior and the challenges they bring to school have certainly gotten worse, but that's not it. It is the fact that I've been through about 6 CEOs who have done nothing but thrust their unrealistic, poorly thought-out (especially the current CEO) plans. No one has brought any solutions that have been implemented for a long enough period that we could even see if they might work. We're constantly taking one step forward and two steps back. That's not progress, to be sure!
Then there is the BTU. OUR proud union! Our champion! HAH! The Union's sole purpose is to perpetuate itself. It's so caught up in the good ol' girl network that there is never the opportunity to get new blood infused into it. They are so caught up in Christmas parties, cruises and retreats that the needs of the teachers are barely addressed. Try reaching a field representative! Try searching for information on that joke of a website. The BTU is a joke. Alonso knows it and so he violates the contract (like he did earlier this month when he dismissed students due to heat, but made teachers sta) on a regular basis.
Now I can't blame the BTU without also blaming teachers. We get the union we deserve. Unless we become active, unless we hold the union accountable, unless we run for office, unless we vote in elections we will never have the representation that we need.
This fall I began my 15th year as a BCPSS teacher. In the fall of 1994 I was one of a group of teachers, mostly career changers, who saw ourselves as catalysts for change. We were not young idealists, but older, experienced adults who felt that we had something to offer the students of Baltimore. Of the 50+ individuals I started out with, 3 or 4 of us are left. I am on my way out as soon as I can secure other employment. It makes me sad. Very sad.
I cannot say that it's the students who are causing me to leave. Their behavior and the challenges they bring to school have certainly gotten worse, but that's not it. It is the fact that I've been through about 6 CEOs who have done nothing but thrust their unrealistic, poorly thought-out (especially the current CEO) plans. No one has brought any solutions that have been implemented for a long enough period that we could even see if they might work. We're constantly taking one step forward and two steps back. That's not progress, to be sure!
Then there is the BTU. OUR proud union! Our champion! HAH! The Union's sole purpose is to perpetuate itself. It's so caught up in the good ol' girl network that there is never the opportunity to get new blood infused into it. They are so caught up in Christmas parties, cruises and retreats that the needs of the teachers are barely addressed. Try reaching a field representative! Try searching for information on that joke of a website. The BTU is a joke. Alonso knows it and so he violates the contract (like he did earlier this month when he dismissed students due to heat, but made teachers sta) on a regular basis.
Now I can't blame the BTU without also blaming teachers. We get the union we deserve. Unless we become active, unless we hold the union accountable, unless we run for office, unless we vote in elections we will never have the representation that we need.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
