...the way it used to be...

Once a month, or so, I have lunch with a few of my former teaching colleagues...
we "catch up", complain, share our joys and sorrows...
sort of a "Band of Sisters", who have "shed their blood with me..."
[apologies to W.S.]

Only those who have passed through the "fire" together, as we have...
can really understand the bond that such adversity constructs...

Two of us were there in the "good old days"...
the kids were different then...
more respectful of others and themselves...
They seemed to not only enjoy being at school, for the most part,
but also had a better opinion of the school and treated it properly...

One of our group, came on board only a bit later,
and also knew some "good" days...
When the staff, as well as parents and students,
worked together for every ones benefit...

One of our group joined us during my last year as a teacher...
We two "old timers" and she were half of the 8th grade English Department.
We had "fun", despite the mind-numbingly endless-seeming,
series of meetings, district regulations, state testing,
abusive administrators,"rotten kids" and pacing guides
[that taught material 2 months after the district benchmark testing on it]...

So after I retired, every one scattered..
one went to a district high school,
one went to another district middle school
and ultimately, the Bay Area...
one went to a neighboring district,
but stayed with middle school...
and, we became the FFers...
[it's Former F*******ers
or F******* Flee-ers,
depends on the mood...]

We have occasionally been joined
by other former colleagues,
but, mostly it's the 4 of us...
two and a half years later,
and we're still complaining about the same things...
Kids who increasingly "don't care",
parents, who seem to have less and less influence
or control over their child...
Administrators who are brutish and heavy-handed,
because they can get away with it...
and school districts who are under so much pressure,
that details that are crucial, get lost...

One friends' school district requires a benchmark test
to be given before Christmas...SOP...
However, it was noted the year before that some of the material on the test,
would not be covered until February, per the "district pacing guide",
which must be followed...
complaints were made, and noted...
So this year the test arrives, and is exactly the same...and so is the pacing guide...
no one thought it was important enough to fix since last year...

I wish I could chalk this up to "an isolated incident", but it's not...
Before I retired, I saw this kind of carelessness happen an increasing number of times at my school...
and it happens most places, because the Federal NCLB regulations
and the subsequent state "reactions", have so intimidated and over-taxed districts,
that many capable people have gotten fed-up and retired or quit,
leaving, in many cases, much less-experienced people,
often with very little actual classroom experience, in charge...

Some try hard and make a dent, but many are over-matched and give up quickly...
unfortunately, as with all parts of society, education attracts its' share
of incapable, even negligent or lazy individuals, who pillage the system for their own benefit,
bullying, intimidating and destroying the very schools they were charged to protect and serve...

As I listen to my friends tell "the same old stuff" again and again...
I'm so glad I got out when I did...
I used to think that if there was one more minute of brain-deadening
staff meeting, staff "development", department meetings, testing training
[with signed affidavits,please] ....in my life...
ARGH !!!!!

I remember the look on a kids' face when he or she "got it"...
the look of confidence gained in music, art, wood shop, sports...
the relief when you gave them "one more chance" to raise their grade,
the total look of satisfaction when that extra work or "owed" assignment
was turned-in, at the last minute...
it didn't matter that I had a huge pile of make-up work to go through,
it only mattered that some kid felt better about them self, for having done "the right thing"...

Now, they have given up...there are no electives to look forward to...
no concert or game to get ready for...
just an endless procession of homework, tests
and for many, failure and dropping out...
School has become the place they go only to see their friends
or to avoid "trouble" from parents, social workers or a court officer...
for too many, just a prelude to a life, paid for by taxpayers...
instead of the life, filled with promise, purpose and fulfillment
that they might have found within their grasp, with some effort...

All my friends have years to go before joining me in the retired category,
and we will continue to meet for lunch, laugh, talk trash and complain...
It would be nice to live long enough to be able to say, along with them...
"That's what we used to do, it always worked...why did they change it ?"
and be pleased once more, that for many more kids, life can be happy and productive...
...the way it used to be...