It doesn't have to be so hard!

I want to start this post by saying this entry serves as an honest look at the environments where I have worked over the past 11 years, and is in no way meant to offend the many of you who I am honored to call friends, students and colleagues that may or may not still be working or learning in Chicago...

Some background information for those of you who don't know my teaching history...Over the past 11 years I was employed by Chicago Public Schools working as music teacher at 3 separate schools. I spent the first 8 years at one school, 1 year working .5 (part-time for those of you unfamiliar with the lingo) at two schools (which were in the same building) and my final 2 years at the third school. The enrollment at these schools varied from as few as 225 to as many as 660 students in grades K-8. I have taught students mainly from the Puerto Rican, Mexican & African American demographic. I have taught students with a variety of special needs including severe and profoundly disabled, autistic and emotional & learning disabled. If I took the time to calculate the number of students who have passed through my classroom door, it would be in the thousands. Many of my former students I am still in contact with, mostly via facebook and I throughly enjoy seeing their lives unfolding before them.

I had the honor of working with countless colleagues who motivated me day after day with the work they did, the love they shared and the lives they changed with the passion & level of intensity they brought to the classroom. I hope that someday their students realize how lucky they were to have these inspiring individuals as teachers.

During the past 3 years or so, I noticed that more and more often I was saying to myself..."it doesn't have to be so hard" (or a variation of this sentiment) and I also starting asking why.

Mainly, it has to do with the fact that the CPS system is broken; Chicago Public Schools is starting the 2011-12 school year $712 million in the red, with a new CEO who is collecting a 250K salary (which is a bigger salary than the city's new mayor). Test scores for the district show depressing results if you can bear to sort through the data. When you watch movies like "Waiting for Superman" or hear talks by Sir Ken Robinson regarding the current state of education (American education, that is) you start to wonder about what it would take to fix all the problems inherent in the system. Sometimes you think education as a whole needs a serious overhaul.

In Chicago, you can add more to this already challenging mix: gang wars and horrific violence in the neighborhoods, students coming into classrooms who have seen people close to them die, who are dealing with broken homes and drug abuse, sexual abuse, and any & every other kind of abuse you can think of... Although many teachers and staff are really good at their jobs, I'm sorry to say there are almost just as many who have no business spending time around kids.

Teacher retention rates are extraordinarily low because so many teachers burn out after their first 5 years. I find this absolutely pathetic considering that most teachers consider the profession to be a calling; they certainly don't go into for the money!

Where am I going with this...? I started my new job today. The contrast between these two worlds couldn't have been more drastic. First off, during 3 days of staff meetings and professional development, not ONE WORD was spoken about tests or test scores or what's riding on the results of a test, not ONE WORD was spoken about lesson plans, how to do them, what to put in the box or when they are due. Nothing was said about how to manage bathroom breaks. No one had to tell the staff what would happen if you "missed a punch." HA! We don't have to punch in or out! Imagine that! I'm currently working at a school where you can leave campus to run errands or grab lunch, where you can put your order in and lunch will be delivered to your classroom door, where you can bring items to be mailed and someone does it for you and where there's a nursery for teachers with children (both infant and toddlers.) The children here have RECESS 3 Times A Day!!! The bell rings and they go out, the bell rings and they come in, no one has to be threatened with "we will never come out here again if you don't get over here because RECESS is OVER!"

This afternoon at the completion of my first day at this new school, when I wasn't totally drained & emotionally exhausted (like I normally would be) I thought to myself once again, "it doesn't have to be so hard." I knew it!

Tomorrow is a new day. Working in a private school is different; my schedule is full, but classes are small (I didn't have over 17 students in a class today), and there's a whole separate set of expectations for everyone when parents are paying tuition and have a choice of where they want to send their children. I've spent so many years of my life dealing with the struggles of inner city schools. What would the world look like if every child had access to a quality education and a supportive family?