School For Slaves

Today was a really frustrating day for me. One of my better students stayed after school to make up a test. She’ll be the first to tell you that she cares about her grade. She took my hour long test in 5-10 minutes, then announced that she didn’t know how to do any of the other problems. I gave her a study guide with the exact same information on it 2 days before giving her the test. I asked her about her interests. She said she liked basketball. I asked her if she was good and she said yes. I asked her if she was good from the day she walked on the court and she said no, her brother taught her how to play. I responded, “Okay, how long did that take, about 15 – 20 minutes?”

Student: “Naw, it took days.”
Me: “You mean to tell me you had to practice?”
Student: “Yea.”
Me: “So what makes you think it would be any different with math? You have to study if you really want to be good at it.”
Student: Silence.
Me: “Did you study for this test?”
Student: “No, I don’t ever study. I haven’t ever studied before.”
Me: “Okay, this is what I’m going to do. Have a seat and I’m going to study this information with you and let you retake this test.”
Student: “Well just give me a zero, I’m not gone study.”

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I was so stunned. I didn’t know how to respond to that. I took her test and I’m going to grade it in a few minutes, but it broke my heart. She may as well had told me that she doesn’t give a fuck about school or the fact that I’m breaking my neck to teach her. I know that she’s not the only student that feels like that either. I think there is one in every classroom across America. The real problem is that there is far more than one in inner city school classrooms. In many cases, the majority of kids feel like that.

Why would I want to get paid for nothing? If students aren’t learning, I can’t be teaching, so in essence, I’m getting paid for nothing.

I can’t be a teacher because I care too much. People judge teachers, for not caring about the kids, but if you care too much it will drive you insane. You can’t do this job and not be depressed by the lack of effort or caring. Slavery exists. The plantation has a new name, it’s called the ghetto. If honesty is the best policy, why do we judge teachers for not caring and not parents? When a teacher writes an article about how fucked up the education system is, her job is put on the line. We don’t address problems in our society, we ignore them. Now let’s talk about why other countries have a better education system than ours.