Please, come laugh with me a while!
| The Mural |
Listen to the story of the most arrogant, ignorant, and
deep-down insecure administrator that ever crossed the threshold of a
classroom.
deep-down insecure administrator that ever crossed the threshold of a
classroom.
|
|
Ms. F. — what a clown. At first, I
thought that she commanded a degree of respect. She could laugh at herself when
she spilled her coffee, she also told me to seek her out if I needed any help.
She even had a picture of Jaime Escalante
on her wall, painted onto a pink T-Shirt.
I liked Jaime, so much so, that
sometimes I drive through the MacArthur Park section of Downtown Los Angeles
just to see the huge mural of Edward James Olmos
and Jaime with their arms on each other's shoulders.
sometimes I drive through the MacArthur Park section of Downtown Los Angeles
just to see the huge mural of Edward James Olmos
and Jaime with their arms on each other's shoulders.
That's the ideal that inspires many
to be teachers, I guess. I liked how rough-and-tumble tough he was, both
reported in the media, in a biography published on the man, as well as in the
movie version starring Olmos.
to be teachers, I guess. I liked how rough-and-tumble tough he was, both
reported in the media, in a biography published on the man, as well as in the
movie version starring Olmos.
I wish that the administrators
treated their teachers the same way that these two men carry each other. Alas,
that can never be the case. In many instances, the administrators themselves
are one complaint away from a forced resignation, unable to stand up to peer or
parental pressures or the school board.
treated their teachers the same way that these two men carry each other. Alas,
that can never be the case. In many instances, the administrators themselves
are one complaint away from a forced resignation, unable to stand up to peer or
parental pressures or the school board.
And Ms. F. was no exception, and
arrogant petty-politicians who also sat on a local school board, so enraptured
was she in her skills to "be awesome".
arrogant petty-politicians who also sat on a local school board, so enraptured
was she in her skills to "be awesome".
She seemed like a
teacher-turned-bureaucrat raised under "Liberation Theology", she was
always talking about "Brown Power", and how she was "Brown and
proud."
teacher-turned-bureaucrat raised under "Liberation Theology", she was
always talking about "Brown Power", and how she was "Brown and
proud."
She babied the Hispanic kids in many
cases. Was she suffused with the notion that anyone who was not the same color
as she was "the bad guy?" I have no idea, but the stuffy,
ethnocentric nonsense pouring out of university graduate programs should be
enough to dissuade people from going into education, whether as a teacher or as
a "leader".
cases. Was she suffused with the notion that anyone who was not the same color
as she was "the bad guy?" I have no idea, but the stuffy,
ethnocentric nonsense pouring out of university graduate programs should be
enough to dissuade people from going into education, whether as a teacher or as
a "leader".
One afternoon, she said "Let's
talk politics" — what she really meant was "Let's talk about how
awesome I am." I look back on those moments, and lo and behold I witnessed
a very insecure little girl in a grown-up, a woman who had lived as an undocumented
immigrant in South Los Angeles, went to Garfield High School, the last class
before Escalante resigned from the
school which refused to support him.
talk politics" — what she really meant was "Let's talk about how
awesome I am." I look back on those moments, and lo and behold I witnessed
a very insecure little girl in a grown-up, a woman who had lived as an undocumented
immigrant in South Los Angeles, went to Garfield High School, the last class
before Escalante resigned from the
school which refused to support him.
She was not the teacher that he
would have been proud of, in my opinion, and the not-so-stellar end of Escalante's career in Garfield should have
been warning enough for me and others — teaching is not for you, for the
strong who command enough respect to discern good from evil.
would have been proud of, in my opinion, and the not-so-stellar end of Escalante's career in Garfield should have
been warning enough for me and others — teaching is not for you, for the
strong who command enough respect to discern good from evil.
Ms. F. had her say, all the time. My
favorite quip out of her big mouth:
favorite quip out of her big mouth:
"I have eighteen hundred
kids!" — she was talking about the student population of the high school where
I was working at the time. In no way did she speak of herself as a mother,
either physically or morally. She was not a mother to those kids, in fact, just
as a sixteen-year-old having a child popping out a kid is no mother either. The
maturity level of an loose adolescent and Ms. F. was in many ways very similar.
Both desperate for approval, both looking for love in other people, both
willing to compromise on the best interests of children in order to feel better
about themselves.
kids!" — she was talking about the student population of the high school where
I was working at the time. In no way did she speak of herself as a mother,
either physically or morally. She was not a mother to those kids, in fact, just
as a sixteen-year-old having a child popping out a kid is no mother either. The
maturity level of an loose adolescent and Ms. F. was in many ways very similar.
Both desperate for approval, both looking for love in other people, both
willing to compromise on the best interests of children in order to feel better
about themselves.
"I have eighteen hundred
kids!" It was all about her, of course. "My kids! My kids! What are
you going to do for my kids?" She was a nut, or she was a nut looking for
a little love, either way, she was no mother, and she seemed to be unfit to be
doing anything related to raising youth for anything.
kids!" It was all about her, of course. "My kids! My kids! What are
you going to do for my kids?" She was a nut, or she was a nut looking for
a little love, either way, she was no mother, and she seemed to be unfit to be
doing anything related to raising youth for anything.
She "had" kids, but she
was not their mother, not in the least. She even approved of students who would
harass other teachers. Shameful, shameful, shameful! The race-baiting which
pits teachers against students and administrators is swallowing up any good
education for these students. They have parents who have failed them, they have
communities which have failed them, now they have schools — teachers, administrators,
and attending staff all — who are also failing them, yet every day they hear
the song-and-dance of "You're-Awesome-Because-You're-A-Minority"
routine.
was not their mother, not in the least. She even approved of students who would
harass other teachers. Shameful, shameful, shameful! The race-baiting which
pits teachers against students and administrators is swallowing up any good
education for these students. They have parents who have failed them, they have
communities which have failed them, now they have schools — teachers, administrators,
and attending staff all — who are also failing them, yet every day they hear
the song-and-dance of "You're-Awesome-Because-You're-A-Minority"
routine.
What difference does it make what
color you are, if you cannot go anywhere based the empty prejudices which keep
you in bondage? Ms. F. and her insufferable ilk make failure palatable, and
they are doing no one any favors as a result.
color you are, if you cannot go anywhere based the empty prejudices which keep
you in bondage? Ms. F. and her insufferable ilk make failure palatable, and
they are doing no one any favors as a result.
"I have eighteen hundred
kids!" She beamed, so proud of herself, even though how many of them would
get arrested by the end of the week, she would never know. The little fantasy
of "Queen Mother" was just enough to keep her coming to work every
day, I guess, not that she was really doing those students, or the staff, any
service.
kids!" She beamed, so proud of herself, even though how many of them would
get arrested by the end of the week, she would never know. The little fantasy
of "Queen Mother" was just enough to keep her coming to work every
day, I guess, not that she was really doing those students, or the staff, any
service.
I wonder how many of "her
kids" will survive to see their twenty-first birthday. I wonder if she
will be there to bail them out of jail when their shaky ethno-self-confidence
cannot stand up to the gang-bang peer pressure to break the law. She will then
have a legacy of "eighteen hundred adult-kids" who have nothing to
show for themselves.
kids" will survive to see their twenty-first birthday. I wonder if she
will be there to bail them out of jail when their shaky ethno-self-confidence
cannot stand up to the gang-bang peer pressure to break the law. She will then
have a legacy of "eighteen hundred adult-kids" who have nothing to
show for themselves.
I am certain that Jaime would not be pleased.