Escape from Chemisry!

When I was in graduate school I was taking a statistics course and, when the first exam was returned, if the student had failed, the teacher stapled a filled out add/drop form to the student’s exam. It was her not so subtle way of letting you know that you did not belong in her class.

Some of my colleagues have similar ways of getting rid of students they don’t think measure up. I, on the other hand, am not as quick to press the matter when I feel a student should drop. In my experience, if you force the matter, the student and parent will always believe that you acted rashly and that they could have passed if allowed to stay. I prefer when the student or parent throws in the towel and requests the change in schedule, which usually occurs after the student’s grade has tanked and they have their “epiphany.”

Surprisingly, some teachers make it difficult to get out of their subject. I don’t know why, you would think that a bored or failing student would become a discipline problem in class and you would want to get rid of them. I have often spoken to teachers who take a student’s underachievement as a personal insult to them; the punishment being that the student has to stay.

I have already lost one student this year to a schedule change. She requested to be moved from Honors Chemistry to regular Chemistry because she was struggling, while in reality. she had a B- and was not doing that poorly. I think that she realized that Honors would require a level of study and commitment that was more than she was willing to give. The mother emailed me requesting the change; asking it be done as soon as possible. When I approached the assistant principal in charge of approving the schedule change she was reluctant, feeling that the student should be required to stick it out. I was able to convince her that the change should be made and the paperwork was processed that day.

I have two other students who I feel should drop, one in AP Chemistry and one in my regular Chemistry class. As is my policy, I am not pushing the change now. Both parents have been contacted and neither parent wants their student to drop. I am waiting until their situation is serious enough that neither parent will fight the process. This should occur for both of them in about three weeks at the end of the quarter. Both of them are failing now.

Another student has made it clear, through nonverbal communication, that he is not happy with me as a teacher or the amount of work I require. After the quiz last Friday, he asked to get a pass to Guidance. The average grade on the quiz was 83% while his grade was 35%. I said I could not, explaining that all passes to guidance had to be made through his study hall teacher. He responded with mild disrespect, but went back to his seat, put his head on the desk, and fell asleep. Soon a request will come from his mother to arrange a schedule change; a request I will honor as soon as the quarter ends. He will then become some other teacher’s problem.

School just ended its second full week things have been exciting to say the least. The extreme heat and humidity, coupled with a case of food poisoning landed me in the emergency room at the end of the second day of school. I was diagnosed with extreme dehydration and given an IV to restore my fluids. Two days later, when my blood work returned to normal, I was released.

My symptoms began just as school ended with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea followed by extreme sweating. I thought it was an insulin reaction and had another teacher get the school nurse. After a quick check of my blood sugar—which was normal—I experienced another violent bout of vomiting. The nurse feared I was having a heart attack but I was not convinced, having experienced food poisoning before. My friend in the Theology department and another from the Math department volunteered to take me home. I called my wife and told her what was happening. Half way home she called me on my cell phone, insisting that I meet her at the emergency room. They immediately determined that I was not having a heart attack. While with the triage nurse I began to violently vomit again in a garbage can. My blood work indicated abnormal kidney function and a very high potassium level. The diagnosis was severe dehydration, resulting in me getting a shot to reduce the nausea and IV fluids. I felt better after about an hour, but was kept under observation Thursday and Friday night until my blood work came back normal again. I was released about 11am Saturday.

The next week I was back at full strength, being careful to drink fluids all day and wash my hands better when handling raw chicken in an attempt to stave-off a reoccurrence. Later that week we had our annual “back to school” night, when parents get to meet the teachers and run through their student’s schedule. Teachers characteristically dislike this evening. After a long day in a hot and humid school the last thing most of us want to do is come back at 7:00pm and spend two more hours in a hot sticky building. Many young teachers don’t understand the purpose of this evening. As unpleasant as it is, especially when the temperature is hot, the night serves an important purpose for the school. Getting parents involved and engaged is essential to educating their children. Only about half my parents attend the evening; much less than half for the seniors and much more than half for the freshmen. I see it as an important duty that needs to be done, even if it is a minor imposition on my free time.

As they run through their student’s schedule, the parents have 5 minute sessions with each teacher. During my time I introduce myself and explain how parents can monitor their student’s progress and assignments. One parent, who arrived late to her student’s period, asked me to repeat everything she missed. The request was obnoxious and insensitive considering it was her fault. I smiled and suggested that she come during her son’s study hall period so she would not be late for his next period. She agreed and thanked me for the suggestion, but never returned.

After leaving the house at 6:30 am that morning, I got back home at about 9:45 pm.

Back to School!

Back to school time is here and, as usual, one more month of vacation would be greatly appreciated. As one of my colleagues commented when I made the last statement, just think of it being that much closer to retirement. Actually I am not desperately longing for the day when I can retire; I enjoy teaching and getting back to school time is not as depressing as you might think. The excitement and anticipation of a new school year dulls the pain of having to get up at 5:30 a.m. again.

As usual, my year began with a 9:00 a.m. department chairman meeting on Monday, followed by a department meeting, lunch, and a useless hour spent at a technology in-service. Tuesday included mass (we are a Catholic school), a faculty meeting which was not so bad that I wanted to kill myself to make it end, lunch, and an afternoon of setting up my classroom for the return of the students. Tomorrow the new freshmen run through their schedule and get acclimated to the school. “Senior friends” are assigned to walk small groups of “freshies” through where everything is in the building and how to open their locker—you would be surprised at how difficult this can be for some. Five minute classes give the students a chance to meet their teachers. I have at least one freshmen four of my five teaching periods with no more than three any period, so I have to be present for the morning sessions. I really don’t mind, taking into consideration that I would be there anyway setting things up for tomorrow. The day’s activities end before noon for everyone.

Thursday and Friday are half-days with 25 minute periods. By the end of the week I will have gone over my class policies with the new chemistry students, passed out text books, run through the schedule for the first unit, and set up a seating chart so I can learn their names quickly. Only a painfully inexperienced or incompetent teacher would allow the students to choose their own seats.

Monday marks the first full day of classes. My students will check into lab and have their “materials check” for their first grade. Tuesday is a quiz on the safety rules before we jump into Unit 1. Later the first week parents will return for “back-to-school night.” All in all, the first two weeks proceed at a frenetic pace, a real kick in the pants, culminating with the three day Labor Day weekend. Just the prescription to get everyone back in the grove; and an early start that results in the end of school coming before June begins.

My situation is better than many others; my concerns minor. I could be one of those teachers that have been laid off because of funding cuts with no prospect of being hired because of the budget cuts in most school districts. I could be a member of the Chicago Teachers Union whose president has predicted that the teachers will strike because of the loss of their promised pay raise and a perception of disrespect by the rank and file. I could be employed by a school where nobody cared if anyone learned anything; mailing it in until I reached retirement age.

I work for a school that is committed to excellence, teach students who are eager to learn, and work with many colleagues that I can respect and admire.

School Funding Crisis

Almost every day there is a story in the media about the government taking some punative action against some government workers union. The shit first hit the fan months ago when the Republican governor of Wisconsin took action against his state workers unions. The result was the disappearance of the Democratic state senators so a vote could not be taken along with statewide demonstrations that could easily have become riots. Things have seemed to calm down for now, but the public is tense and things could explode again. The action by Wisconsin was followed by similar actions by several other states; leaving many state workers feeling like they were under siege, with most of the public animosity directed towards the teachers unions.

In my state, Illinois, the mayor of Chicago--by way of the school board-- canceled the teachers scheduled 4% pay raise resulting in the Chicago Teachers Union president comparing the rank and file to slaves. (Can anyone say hyperbole?) Had the mayor and governor been Republicans the city would have been burned to the ground the next day, but since they are Democrats nothing of consequence will occur. I feel it’s doubtful that the union will strike, and for the sake of the students I hope I'm correct. With 70% of the school budget going to salaries this is probably only the beginning of the government attack on the teachers union. With a +$700 deficit to close more cuts are certain.

Two weeks ago I was at a gathering of family and friends where the topic of the teachers pay raise came up. The group included tea party members, ultra-liberals, and everything in-between. I was shocked to find that all but one individual were soundly against the teachers. Even the unabashed progressives agreed that the teachers were paid too much and the unions had gone too far. The sole person in favor of the teachers’ position was herself, a public school teacher. The consensus was clear—unions were once necessary to insure workers rights, but were now out of control and had to be reined in.

The public school teacher argued that teacher pensions were not out of control because people didn’t think of them correctly. She proposed that the teachers’ pension debt was like a mortgage—it may seem large but does not have to be paid today, but in small installments over time. You could tell that she was instructed what to say, probably by her union, and really didn’t understand her own analogy. As I pointed out, your mortgage doesn’t increase by 3% every year along with medical payments. The pension situation is unsustainable and has to be changed. Unfortunately, teachers will probably never get what was promised to them.

This leads me to the three things that are to blame for the present education funding crisis; (1) unions that over the years pushed for higher salaries and more benefits without regard for how the state would pay for them, (2) an educational system that pays teachers based on how many years of experience they have rather than the quality of their work, and (3) the misguided attitude that more funding is always the answer to why students don’t achieve. Teachers will argue that a small increase in taxes could set everything right.

Using the most recent demographic information the +$700 million school deficit for the next school year corresponds to approximately $320 per person in the city—approximately $1300 per family of four. The median city income being approximately $75,000 and assuming an overall tax rate of 40% each family of 4 would have to pay 3%of their take-home pay just of close the school deficit. How many people would be willing to take a 3% pay cut so teachers could have their 4% pay raise? Try selling that one to the general public.