Teachers Need Your Help

"If your child attacks his teacher then so be it. Being attacked by a student is part of his teacher's job description." This was a comment made by my Special Education Director to a parent of a student that had attacked his peers and myself ten times in two months. I went back and looked at my contract and could not find one part where it is written that I agreed to being assaulted by a student. I have to believe it is part of an unwritten contract that is understood.

This meeting was held because one of my students would suddenly attack students and staff, seemingly without provocation. He would run at his victims screaming and moving to block escape before becoming physical. This student is 6'3" tall, weighs close to 300 lbs and is extremely autistic. His mother insists that he never blows up at home. His mother took him to see a psychologist who told her that he was a very gentle boy when in his office, so the problem must be at school. My observations were that he blew up when ever he was disappointed or heard the word no.

I love my job and my career but I am getting weary.There isn't a week where there isn't somewhere that the news media covers a teacher being accused of abusing a student, but we rarely hear of students attacking teachers. Yet it happens often. In the last fourteen years I have been hit hard enough to see stars three times, been spit at, had hands around my throat several times ,been hit countless times in other parts of my body, been cussed at more times than I can remember, had staples put in my coffee cup in the hope that I would drink the staples, been threatened with physical and legal harm as well as having been a focus of a murder attempt. Rarely have school administrations shown any concern for my safety or even sent students home. Not once have these students had any criminal charges brought against them by administrations of the school districts that I have worked for.

Parents litigate often especially in Special Education, teachers rarely litigate. Parents most often win litigation, teachers rarely win. School districts are more afraid of parents than they are of teachers. Most teachers work hard to provide a safe environment for all students. As more is expected from teachers less is expected from parents.

Teachers are expected to raise the academic standard even as school districts are cutting funding. At the same time parents are no longer willing or able to teach social skills or establish limits at home. We live in a society of immediate gratification and five minute sound blocks. Every study that I have ever read indicates learning is impossible or nearly impossible if students are not able to be focused on learning. Students are sent to school hungry, expecting the schools to feed them. They are sent to school sleep deprived because no one at home has established a bed time. They are exposed to violence at home, on television, PlayStation type games and even the computer that make it even harder to focus on school. Most  parents want the best for their children but by the time the get to High School they either do not know how to or are too tired to support their children.

We hear how bad public schools are. Why is it that public schools are the focus when parents should be under the spot light as well? When I worked in manufacturing, if  materials didn't meet engineering specifications then it was either re-machined or scrapped. If the focus is on making public schools better then public schools must be allowed to say to the parent; "Your child is not ready for public school just yet. Please take care of certain challenges first and then your child may attend public school. Private schools can do that, why not public schools? We have forgotten an education in a public school is not a right, it is a privilege. There is nothing in the constitution that says all children in our country legally or otherwise must go to school, at least as far as I know there isn't. I may have missed that part of  the constitution. What is important about a privilege is that it must be valued or it can be lost. All students must have the legal right to the privilege of a free and appropriate education not a guarantee to a free and appropriate education.

We all want our children to have a better life than we have but we must be a team. Not just teachers alone but parents, school administrators and our communities as well. Hillary Clinton coined the phrase "It Takes A Village To Educate Our Children." She is right. One group  alone cannot make this happen. Teachers are getting worn out trying to. More and more teachers are feeling isolated and frustrated. "No Child Will Be Left Behind" is a great idea but our schools are hemorrhaging and we are in danger of losing the very life blood that can makes our dream of "No Child Will be Left Behind" a reality, our teachers zeal and love for teaching. Our teachers are having less time to focus on creative and innovative lessons because so many parents and school administrations are leaving them swinging in the wind, expecting them to do it all and quite frankly we just cannot, no matter how hard we try.

I am not denying that there are bad teachers, there are. I work with a few but if parents were involved we could spot these teachers quickly and remove them just as quickly. Just for the record I am absolutely certain that a good teacher can become a bad teacher. I have told my Principal if the day comes that I have become a bad teacher than I need him to tell me and I will resign that day. I continue to ask for parents to help me be a better teacher.

Unfortunately now that the economy is so bad educating our nation's children is a topic that is not being talked about enough. As an educator who very much cares about all children, please help me get the message out. We need everyone in our communities to provide the potential for the children of our country to have a wonderful future.