A Response to a Friend
First Keri, I would like to say, I hope your husband makes it back home safe and sound, and that there is no ill will at all in this posting. You have opened a dialogue and I would respectfully like to engage in it. If you feel at all you are entrenched in a forum you did not sign up for, I will immediately rectify that.
I would like to focus my response only to one point you bring up.
"For those people who profess to truly love America, from now on my first question will be, "What have you done to support her lately?" Merely spouting ideas *you* believe to go along with what America embodies is simply not good enough. Physical action is required. Physical action to the point of **life sacrifice** has been required to allow you to scream at the top of your lungs what you believe to be America. Many young men have sacrificed their time, their families, and their lives to allow us to enjoy vogue political conversations on the outcome of the Iraq war, and what should and should not be done. "
I think the most concerning part of this idea is that I feel I am only presented two options. Perhaps I am wrong in the reading of your sentiments, but it seems to me that the only way to truly satisfy the question, "What have you done to support her lately?" is by being in the war.
By extension, this is a response to your statement, "the American ideal is THE only one worth fighting for, that America is the only nation that possesses the righteous, true, and just ideals that look out for and benefit all of mankind."
Hopefully this jumbled mass of thoughts on the internet will become clearer as time goes on. I guess what I am saying is that as a teacher in one of the poorest, lowest performing, and highest risk urban areas of the United States, I see many faults in America. But I do not let these faults stop me from trying to fix them. I see my students, some who at the seventh and eighth grade, unable to read past an early second grade level. Then I am told by my administration, who is told by their supervisors, who are mandated by No Child Left Behind (an act not created by teachers in Harlem), that my students must score at least a 2 (the lowest passing score on a scale of 4) on the state wide English Language Arts Exam to prevent my school from entering a list of schools in risk of restructuring. Did I also mention that my students of special needs have Individual Education Plans? That means, my student who should be (but is not) classified as Mentally Retarded and reading at an early second grade level is required to pass an English Language Arts exam written for a seventh grade student. This hardly seems fair and I promise this is not some rumor I heard. This is a real student. I administered a reading level assessment, analyzed the data, and concluded that he is reading at a second grade reading level. I also proctored his state examination. His only testing modification was receiving extended time (which is only time and a half).
I am angry at this. This does not serve my student.
Another story. I had a student who uncontrollably swore and sang in my class. His ability to write was limited to what he had in front of him and what he had memorized. Often, instead of class notes, I would see song lyrics written, or the names of classmates listed. At the beginning of the year, we were told he was a "flight risk." The year before, he had run away and was found at the last stop in Brooklyn (that is at least an hour and a half on a train). He wanted to go to Coney Island and no one else could take him. He does not receive additional services like a Para-professional, who would escort him from class to class and makes sure he gets to where he needs to be. Instead, he gets Occupational Therapy.
I think I need to state that when I tell people what school I teach at, they usually respond with, "Oh, that's the good school in Harlem, isn't it?" To which I want to pull my hair out and shout at them. I want so bad to scream at the top of my lungs and ask why am I teaching in books older than I am to students half my age? Why do I see a boy, no older than ten, drop a switch blade mere blocks from my school's front door? Why is there a girl in the seventh grade with a reputation of having sex in the park behind the car wash across the street from my school? Why do we celebrate and cheer (and are caught by surprise) when at the end of a parent/teacher conference night, there are no reports of parents who came drunk or high? Why is the dean of school safety being jumped by students in the cafeteria? Why are the struggles my students facing the deaths of loved ones in violent ways? Why am I covering a trail of blood in the hallway with paper towels before passing time because a student decided to use a chess piece as a weapon?
What I am trying to put across is, not all conflicts are without. Sometimes they are within. To not recognize that education for a very particular demographic is just shitty, does a disservice to those who have no voice in our country. As a teacher, I speak for those students when I recognize that they and I are a part of a system created primarily by those who know nothing about the ideal American education. I might not be on the front line of a war, and I do not presume to compare myself with a man in a war-zone, but Harlem is hardly the peaceful Utopia of the Minnesota suburb of privilege where I spent my childhood.
I would like to focus my response only to one point you bring up.
"For those people who profess to truly love America, from now on my first question will be, "What have you done to support her lately?" Merely spouting ideas *you* believe to go along with what America embodies is simply not good enough. Physical action is required. Physical action to the point of **life sacrifice** has been required to allow you to scream at the top of your lungs what you believe to be America. Many young men have sacrificed their time, their families, and their lives to allow us to enjoy vogue political conversations on the outcome of the Iraq war, and what should and should not be done. "
I think the most concerning part of this idea is that I feel I am only presented two options. Perhaps I am wrong in the reading of your sentiments, but it seems to me that the only way to truly satisfy the question, "What have you done to support her lately?" is by being in the war.
By extension, this is a response to your statement, "the American ideal is THE only one worth fighting for, that America is the only nation that possesses the righteous, true, and just ideals that look out for and benefit all of mankind."
Hopefully this jumbled mass of thoughts on the internet will become clearer as time goes on. I guess what I am saying is that as a teacher in one of the poorest, lowest performing, and highest risk urban areas of the United States, I see many faults in America. But I do not let these faults stop me from trying to fix them. I see my students, some who at the seventh and eighth grade, unable to read past an early second grade level. Then I am told by my administration, who is told by their supervisors, who are mandated by No Child Left Behind (an act not created by teachers in Harlem), that my students must score at least a 2 (the lowest passing score on a scale of 4) on the state wide English Language Arts Exam to prevent my school from entering a list of schools in risk of restructuring. Did I also mention that my students of special needs have Individual Education Plans? That means, my student who should be (but is not) classified as Mentally Retarded and reading at an early second grade level is required to pass an English Language Arts exam written for a seventh grade student. This hardly seems fair and I promise this is not some rumor I heard. This is a real student. I administered a reading level assessment, analyzed the data, and concluded that he is reading at a second grade reading level. I also proctored his state examination. His only testing modification was receiving extended time (which is only time and a half).
I am angry at this. This does not serve my student.
Another story. I had a student who uncontrollably swore and sang in my class. His ability to write was limited to what he had in front of him and what he had memorized. Often, instead of class notes, I would see song lyrics written, or the names of classmates listed. At the beginning of the year, we were told he was a "flight risk." The year before, he had run away and was found at the last stop in Brooklyn (that is at least an hour and a half on a train). He wanted to go to Coney Island and no one else could take him. He does not receive additional services like a Para-professional, who would escort him from class to class and makes sure he gets to where he needs to be. Instead, he gets Occupational Therapy.
I think I need to state that when I tell people what school I teach at, they usually respond with, "Oh, that's the good school in Harlem, isn't it?" To which I want to pull my hair out and shout at them. I want so bad to scream at the top of my lungs and ask why am I teaching in books older than I am to students half my age? Why do I see a boy, no older than ten, drop a switch blade mere blocks from my school's front door? Why is there a girl in the seventh grade with a reputation of having sex in the park behind the car wash across the street from my school? Why do we celebrate and cheer (and are caught by surprise) when at the end of a parent/teacher conference night, there are no reports of parents who came drunk or high? Why is the dean of school safety being jumped by students in the cafeteria? Why are the struggles my students facing the deaths of loved ones in violent ways? Why am I covering a trail of blood in the hallway with paper towels before passing time because a student decided to use a chess piece as a weapon?
What I am trying to put across is, not all conflicts are without. Sometimes they are within. To not recognize that education for a very particular demographic is just shitty, does a disservice to those who have no voice in our country. As a teacher, I speak for those students when I recognize that they and I are a part of a system created primarily by those who know nothing about the ideal American education. I might not be on the front line of a war, and I do not presume to compare myself with a man in a war-zone, but Harlem is hardly the peaceful Utopia of the Minnesota suburb of privilege where I spent my childhood.
posted by Carey at
3/13/2007 10:15:00 PM
3 Comments:
Carey,
Thank you for your thoughtful words. As a speech-language pathologist working in a rural school district in Georgia, I can completely understand your frustration. Though it is not Harlem, I guarantee you I fully experienced the trials NCLB placed on me, a provider of special education. I had many students who, in the second and third grade with an IQ of 68 (68!)could not qualify for intellectual disability because we had too many black boys with intellectual disability due to the constraints of NCLB. We also had such a shortage of teachers, that I witnessed a pre-school special needs teacher physically abusing a student, and after I reported it to my principal, gave a statement to the police, and she admitted to the act, she was not fired. She is still employed there today working with non-verbal 3 and 4 year olds who cannot tell adults what is happening to them all day long.
Carey, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate YOUR service to America. I whole heartedly believe YOU are doing this country service. I never meant to imply it was military or nothing. I think there are many ways a person can service their country, however I think Amercia has a lot of lazy critics. I was frustrated with coworkers who sit and judge the war from their couch. They work a cushy job, then come home and complain about the job MY husband is doing. It bothers me. I think you have placed yourself on the frontlines for the benefit of America's underpriveleged youth, and I highly respect you for it.
I also admit that America *does* have it's problems (like the ones you are mentioning) but I believe in the American spirit and the American people, more than any other, to depend on citizens like you, to rise up and change what needs to be changed.
Is the Iraq war being executed perfectly? Of course not. Is president Bush perfect? Far from it. But I think when you look back on the history of America and it's citizens, and compare it with all the others, it shines far above the rest, and for that I am proud to call myself an American. I am proud of what my husband is doing to try to keep her strong, and defend her from those abroad that would do her harm. So I was merely expressing distaste when people I felt like did not truly appreciate her, in word or deed, insult her for no other purpose than the insult. I have no problem with citizens like you finding problems (be they internal or external) and working to change it.
I just have a problem with people who try to tell me the rightness and wrongness of what the military is engaged in, when in reality they get one view of it from the media. Few people get information on the subject of the war from other sources. I would never presume to tell you what does and does not go on in your school, or how to teach your lessons. Even if I thought there might be issues with what you were doing (which of course I do not, this is merely an example) I would be careful with what I said to you because I have never done what you are doing, I don't know how to do what you do, nor do I have any plans to.
I feel like I am starting to ramble. I apologize, and again, I appreciate your service. :)
p.s. if you ever wanna trade stories, I have doozies too. Different than yours, but still sad.
Carey, good blog. Even though we talk about your teaching quite often, I come to a greater and greater realization about what goes on at Fredrick Douglass each time I hear a new story...
I believe that serving America is one of the greatest services provided by war critics. Today in DC is the march on the Pentagon, a follow up from the March on the Capitol which I attended a month or so ago. People who are ACTIVELY trying to work on problems to solve the war and let their opinions be known are some of the greatest civil workers we've seen in our time. A representative democracy like ours thrives on social change and public opinion. Because there have been very influential reports on how the war was going (particularly the bi-partisan report on the war recieved, but largely ignored by George W Bush) I believe that people feel that they only way the can express their opinion is by popular decent, a noble, noble cause. At the anti-war rally a month ago, there were groups from all over the country who were in Washington to make a REAL difference in US foreign policy, especially in Iraq.
That being said, I completly believe the media is an awful way to get your information, and I agree that people in our country are not always smart enough to always seek the source of media comment. I run into this at work all the time byt providing statistics to a reporter and having them present it in a way that is actually wrong.
Having read a good portion of the report given to president Bush (http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/images/12/06/iraq.report.pdf) I am downtrodden about the fact that instead of following the reccomendations of this document, he chose to do the exact opposite. Instead of using the millions of dollars it costs to write this document, little to nothing was accomplished from its publication. I believe the American people should strive to read these documents to educate themselves about the war, and not rely on anyone.
In my opinion, people should always support the troops. Being the military service is optional, to make a sacrifice for your county is one of the most selfless things you can do. I've seen with members of my extended family how hard this truly is. While I'm not a primary stakeholder, like Keri, the thought of having to leave my husband would be almost unbearable.
That being said, Americans shouldn't ever lend a blind eye to their faith in American morals and values. War hasn't solved Nazism, it started it as a direct cause from WW1), don't forget about Japanese Internment Camps, or the fact that there are homeless people in the richest country in the world. People must serve their country in whichever way they feel fit, and be thankful others are doing the same.
Don't read only liberal OR conservative influenced media, educate yourself. This is the only way social change will make a collborative change with the government.
Ha, I pre-apologize for the spelling mistakes, I was in a hurry!
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