On another post Anonymous wrote:
"I just discovered this blog while conducting a google search to gather
more information regarding TFA. So informative!!! I know this is an old
post, but I am a PPS teacher and I spent 4 years at King. There was an
EPIDEMIC of students leaving classrooms and the building at all times of
the day almost everyday. I would pick my students up from recess or
their related arts classes and notice one or more students missing from
my class. My students would tell me "Oh he got mad and left" or "She
walked out" when I inquired about missing students. All we could do as
teachers was call the office and report the student as missing and write
a referral. There was often no follow up or effort made to locate the
student. Teachers were terrified that something terrible was going to
happen to one of these unsupervised students. We started keeping daily
logs to record the students we reported as missing, who we reported it
to, and what, if any, follow up action was taken. One time a colleague
went to the Rita's across the street during her lunch break to end up in
line behind two 2nd graders from our school treating them themselves
to an Italian ice! Their teacher had called the office to report them
missing hours prior to this. Students routinely walked out of classes
and left the building. There were also students who just roamed the
building all day long, everyday. Some of them only reporting class less
than 10 times ALL YEAR!!! The truly sad thing is these examples of
misconduct and disregard for safety are not even close to the outrageous
and unsafe things that occur daily in almost every building I have
worked in. The public has NO CLUE about the horrifying conditions the
teachers and students are subjected to daily. The students who truly
want to learn have no chance at all. Sadly there is less discipline and
order each year. Any student who makes it to graduation or teacher who
makes it to retirement will likely suffer from PTSD."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Does anyone know if procedures have been improved lately?
Sadly, no. Good schools like Minadeo have turned in to babysitting services. My child comes home every day with stories about kids running through the halls, screaming and yelling, kicking and punching other students. They say at most they go to some room where they just hang out. It's sad, but we don't know where else to go.
What the heck? A+ conducted interviews with school based personnel and the district allegedly surveys teachers. Is there some reason staff can't be up front about this type of thing without the benefit of a blog where they can be anonymous? There is a lack of support from management if this occurs routinely and is not stopped. I have never criticized Dr. Lane because I genuinely believe she wants success, but I will have to suggest her next photo op with students be at Rita's. I guess there is no limit to what we parents do not know.
We left Minadeo and enrolled in a private school we can't afford.
7:25, any teacher who is up front about this sort of thing would be crushed. This district is all about public relations.
If any teacher spoke up about this problem, administration would go into a full "kill the messenger" routine.
As just one example, consider what happened to PPS Police Chief Fadzen.
I do agree with you that Dr. Lane wants success. But who doesn't want success? The question is whether or not Dr. Lane is willing to put student success before other things, like district PR, Gates money, etc.
Let me give you a hint as to the answer to that question. Any district that employs a "kill the messenger" policy is not putting student success first.
And I'm not guessing about any of this. I'm a PPS teacher.
This is the 11:07 poster. Let me add one more thing.
We teachers are told, in no uncertain terms, that we are to never call the city police if trouble breaks out. It doesn't matter how serious the problem is.
We are to call the school police only.
Now, why is that? Is it because the school police are better equipped to handle serious problems? No. It's because the PPS administration can control what the school police report. They cannot control what the city police report.
Here's one example. A friend of mine, also a PPS employee, saw a student with a knife. The knife was out, not hidden. My friend immediately dialed 911, and the city police responded.
You'd think that my friend would be praised for his fast action. No. A PPS administrator told my friend that he was now a marked man.
It didn't matter that my friend probably saved people from injury. Protect the PPS image! Kill the messenger!
Post a Comment