WA State Charter Schools ruled unconstitutional

[BrotherIvan]

57. Thanks to all who replied to my rather long post

As the child of a 45-year school teacher, even though I figured out very early on that teaching wasn't for me, it seems I always have a lot to say about it

I did love my school before all the changes. It was a place where students got a chance, really their last chance, to graduate from school. Some of the kids were hard core gang members and were straight from juvie--we even had a parole officer on site. Some had had severe disciplinary problems including threatening a teacher with a gun. Some were mothers and fathers of more than two children of their own. Most couldn't read or do any math above simple adding and subtracting. Some such poor or dysfunctional backgrounds, their stories made me cry. But the ones that really worked hard made amazing progress. I have never been to a high school graduation where every single person was literally sobbing with joy, gratitude and pride.

My students definitely taught me more than I they. I was straight out of grad school and couldn't get a job in my field so I was subbing a bit until I found something. I had been in schools so large they basically had police in every hallway. I had been assaulted in a junior high and given candy and gifts by third graders. But when I got to the continuation high school, though it was in a part of town you would never want to drive in at night and there were bullet holes in the windows of my classroom, it felt very different. When the students were changing classes the second day, I was walking through the halls. (This is actually the time that most fights start because the students are all milling around and not under the direct supervision of a teacher. At one of the schools I subbed in, a kid was stabbed walking to third period for looking at another boy's girlfriend.) There was the beginning of what looked like a big guy roughing up a smaller guy. But here, instead of a security guard yelling, "Hey, You!" and basically arresting the kid, I heard a teacher yell, "Hey, Ricardo, knock it off." The boy turned and smiled and said, "Sup Mr. C?" and totally forgot about the other kid and started telling this teacher about his weekend. All the teachers knew every student's name. It gave a family atmosphere. And I learned that many teenagers aren't ready to be thrown in the sea of giant high schools. I do believe that's why there is more school violence and suicide. Fourteen and fifteen year olds are not equipped to be that independent. They feel lost. In my school, they felt seen and like someone gave a damn about them. It made all the difference.

So that's just one of many long diatribes I have about education. The teacher-student relationship is not only the most important, it is the crux of education. Teachers should be supported in every possible way. We all have a favorite teacher, and almost always that was the person from whom we learned the most. So if we went back to dealing with the essentials, the teacher-student relationship, we might get a little further.

And if you read this far, thanks!