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(and other randomness)

So this is kind of a post-dated entry, but the record is there, nonetheless.

I just spent Monday and Tuesday in Baltimore at the BCPSS Hiring Fair. WHAT A MADHOUSE! It is a mark of just how desperately Charm City needs something like TFA, even if it is only to funnel teachers into the district. Dr. Alonzo (Superintendent of BCPSS) began the fair with an address to all of the applicants, and brought forward the fact that every school year BCPSS begins with 850 vacancies!

Many of the attendees were current BCPSS teachers who were told by their schools that they would not have jobs the following year. After an entire row of librarians raised their hand to ask why their schools were eliminating their libraries (and all positions within them), Dr. Alonzo responded that “We sent a memo to all schools last week telling them to hold off on any decisions regarding libraries. The budgets have not yet been approved. In all likelihood, they have not yet read the memo and will hopefully let you know that your position is not “for sure” eliminated!” What kind of administration gets a memo from the Superintendent and DOESN’T READ IT! I can see a day, two days, but a week? Clearly the organizational teams at some schools are…lacking!

This huge demand for teachers resulted in a rather confused, chaotic environment. Some teachers were being hired on the spot after a 5 minute interview at best. The lines for each school were like a meat processing plant, simply looking if you were certified in an area of need, and then moving on. I was repeatedly asked if I spoke Spanish (my placement is French) because, though they had a vacancy for French, they really “want to kill two birds with one stone, and have someone who can teach both!” While I was trying to interview with a principal at one school, another man came up to us from a neighboring table, interrupted us to ask what my content area was, and then, looking frustrated, told both of us “Uggh, I don’t need French, I’m looking for ENGLISH.”…..YIKES!!

After the fair, I “booked” one interview for the next day at Carver Vocational Technical High School, and was waiting for a call from Northwestern High School. Note that, when I say I “booked” an interview, we made it clear that I was leaving B’more the next day, and would need to see them in the morning, to which he nodded and told me to sign a sheet. I then went to stay with three current CM’s for the night. To anyone who is traveling to their region, and has been offered housing with current CM’s…TAKE IT!! It was so helpful to hang out and talk with current teachers in a really relaxed environment, and to hear all of the insane things that happen in their schools. No one in the TFA career track is going to tell you some of the things they are putting out on the table, and you have to know, after all, we did sign up for this…or so I thought!

The title of this entry should be a clue to what is coming next, the things we heard about some schools in the district were completely crazy. I should preface this by saying that I am not at all dissatisfied with my decision to join TFA, even after hearing how rough some of these schools can be. But, I think everyone needs to know what they are up against. We heard stories of teachers quitting in their first week. One female CM quit because a gang member she offended the day before fire-bombed her classroom, meaning he threw a bottle full of lighter fluid into her room (molotov cocktail). Her principle merely encouraged her to “put out the fire and call the police”. The other, a male CM, quit after a student pulled a knife on him because he didn’t like his tone!

We found out that most of the schools in Baltimore do not have metal detectors, nor do they lock the doors. One of the most violent schools in the district, a four story six stairwell behemoth, has only two obese hall monitors to try and control the 1100 students. We are told about the problems our students will face at home, in their city. We know about low test scores, and teacher shortages. None of the recruiters I have talked to thus far are quick to point out that a lot of the problems barring student success…follow them to school!
I can only imagine how hard it is to try and teach in these schools, let alone try and LEARN here. We heard stories of cafeterias so violent that students don’t like to even eat in them; students who have to carry weapons to school, simply to survive the trip through some of the neighborhoods they walk and ride through each day! Teachers assaulted by students, and, more sadly, students assaulted by teachers! More than anything, these two days have shown me that the achievement gap isn’t just a problem in education, it’s a problem that needs work in so many other areas: urban development, public safety, school security, administrative problems, home welfare, etc. I don’t think the achievement gap is impossible to overcome, but it is certainly going to take a lot more than a couple of ambitious young teachers. We represent merely one link in the chain, and, with luck, others will follow our lead and become interested in fixing the problems in whatever ways they can.

I am still hopeful, I am still glad I have chosen to become a TFA corps member, and I am still looking forward to the beginning of my teaching career. But I leave Baltimore with a touch more awareness of the problems we face. Am I still naive? OF COURSE! Until the day I stand before my students, I have no idea what it is going to be like. No amount of stories, preparations, training, or reading can get us ready for what we are going out there to do. But it doesn’t hurt to be realistic about the challenges, and if we don’t seek out the truth about the schools we are about to enter, we’re going to be even more shell shocked when our bubble bursts.

My favorite thing from the Charm City Corps so far, group chant……. B’more, HARD CORPS!