My experiences at the new school have given me a new understanding regarding administration. I can see now how terrible administrators are created by unrealistic expectations and game playing in the hope of career advancement. I see it happening right now.
When the year began in early September at the new high school, there were high hopes and there was teamwork. Administrators were approachable. A few egos seemed to be exalted, but teachers nevertheless felt supported and affirmed. That was before “shell-shock” set in.
I must credit the disaster that is unraveling at this place and other schools in the area to the deliberate “get soft” on the kids policies dripping down from Beaudry Ave. and from our superintendent, John Deasy himself. Teachers at this new school expected to be able to write out referrals and have kids removed from class when necessary. They expected to have the ability to teach in their own classrooms. They expected to be safe from harm by having appropriate outside supervision. They expected classified support staff which the district has decided is too expensive. They also expected real discipline which John Deasy has decided is a political liability. He doesn’t like suspensions and expulsions because they deprive the kids of valuable standards-based instruction.
Our Yolie Flores small school principal does very little to enforce much of anything. I see him taking care of matters which directly affect him and giving official voice to official ideology. I characterize the man as dwelling in some kind of unreal ethereal realm of ideal instruction and ideal pupils just to come down from the pedagogical Mount of Transfiguration once in a while in order to bestow some sort of wisdom on us during Tuesday “fix-the-teacher” professional development time. He is already beginning to move into a “blame the teacher” mode of thinking. “If the teachers would just get the instructional component together, there would be no need for referrals.” A personal laptop has been stolen. The sprinkler system was turned on, flooding out the second floor. A pregnant teacher was attacked. Drugs are being sold on campus. Windows have been broken. Tagging is occurring with regularity. Yet, our silly principal gives voice to the imperative to post content standards on the board. I don’t think he’s actually been in a classroom in over a decade. Fortunately, he’s usually gone during class time. I have much better things to do with my time than post content standards for a class of 40 sophomores who wouldn’t understand the language or care.
There is no “time-out” room. There is no “in-house” suspension place. There are only two campus supervisors and the two school cops are often busy with busts that take them off campus. We have two deans, but they are also teaching in order to save money for Beaudry Ave. One dean is the sports director for the campus. If our local Yolie Flores sponsored small school secretary permits it, she will babysit a few miscreants during class time. That’s about it. Heaven help us if a serious life-threatening emergency erupts during class.
A revealing, salient moment occurred during the last faculty meeting. Our site coordinator (the real acting principal for the campus) complained that when they did random weapons searches on the kids during class time, they noticed that teachers are allowing kids to wear hats in class and to listen to ipods. These are against school rules, he reminded the simmering faculty. Really? And when a confrontation explodes between a faculty member and a kid, are you going to defend the teacher? – Not likely. Teachers are utterly impotent, but they are still blamed for the problems that unsupervised kids who run amok with impunity create on campus.
These are all familiar conditions. We had these issues at HPHS, but on a smaller scale. Discipline was eroding and “blame-the-teacher” games were multiplying, but there was a difference. At HPHS, a certain number of teachers and staff members actually bought into the district ideology. At this new place the truth is painfully obvious as we hold our breaths and wait for a disaster to unfold.
Wow this is all so true. I am lucky to be at a continuation school that is very well run. We are encouraged to send kids out who are being rude and disrespectful and no excuses are made for them. The principal just kicked out three kids who behaved badly on a field trip. Worries about "numbers" did not keep her from doing what was right.
It is so sad to see what is happening to SRHS #2
Posted by: A Teacher | November 11, 2011 at 11:50 PM
Incredible! Little support is being given to the classroom and the teachers.
Posted by: teacher | November 12, 2011 at 09:41 AM
There obviously is a great divide between the schools that are left to their own means,defined largely by teachers, and those that are handcuffed by "laissez-faire" with a club attached. The fear that schools will become targets of the super man makes administrators fear punishing the kids who most need discipline. They become the worst offenders in the quick decay of the public school. Parents don't want their kids to run amok! They want their kids in a safe school! Are you getting the message, Mr. Super Man?
Posted by: Mr_JavaGeek | November 14, 2011 at 10:06 PM