So I have talked with my union today about possible procedures to take against my prinicipal. My school's a zoo and I can't work in that environment any longer. Here's my initial list of grievances I forwarded along.
1.Students roam the school almost completely unchecked when they should be in class. Poor distribution of hall duty posts combined with a lack of walkie talkies make it difficult for these students to be rounded up.
2.Disorder in hallways regularly takes away from instructional time in the classroom. Teachers report an average of 7-9 interruptions per period from the students in the halls.
3.Enforcement of existing discipline measures is inconsistent. Students are regularly suspended but then reappear in school the next day with no action taken.
4.Teachers are routinely provided with Xeroxed discipline referrals instead of district-issued carbon forms.
5.The Youth Action Center is used as an administrative office instead of a liaison between police and the school. Students “hang out” in the office and often will try to receive a discipline referral so they may visit the YAC rather than stay in class.
6.Students in In-School Suspension spend the day playing games, talking, sleeping and walking the halls. Work sent there by teachers is never returned. The overseeing teacher has been seen sleeping at his desk.
7.Teachers are not provided with regular updates of students who are suspended or placed in ISS. Accurate attendance counts at the classroom level are impossible.
8.Students who engage in fights or who verbally assault teachers are not removed from school.
9.New and incoming teachers are provided with no classroom management support from the administration.
― That Girl (thatgirl), Thursday, 30 January 2003 02:05 (twenty-three years ago)
Although teachers I've talked with informally agree with this issues and wish something would be done, nobody has attempted to do anything yet.
I'm kind of afraid they know something I don't and I might regret starting shit. Then again they could just be lazy.
Our school doesn't have a shop-steward type person so someone from the union is going to come talk to me and help in organizing the other teachers in my building. There's a tiered approach in addressing the issues that they'll take with me. The start would be in finalizing a list like the above, the union sending in to the prinicipal, cc:ing his boss, and saying that members have complained about these things. The highest step would include making formal complaints to a special committee of the school board.
All of these roads could lead to our prinicipal losing his contract as he is required to uphold a state code on safety and discipline in the schools.
maybe I should've just stuck to web design.
― That Girl (thatgirl), Thursday, 30 January 2003 02:09 (twenty-three years ago)
the principal has a contract? that sounds bizarre.
Am I correct in assuming parents don't give a shit? This is 7th grade, right? What in the fuck.
Go for it. At worst you get to find a better job.
― Millar (Millar), Thursday, 30 January 2003 02:23 (twenty-three years ago)
What Millar said. Sounds like somebody's gotta do it, be that kick in the pants if you like.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 30 January 2003 02:26 (twenty-three years ago)
Do you by any chance know Arabic, Dari, Pashtun, Urdu or Farsi?
― Millar (Millar), Thursday, 30 January 2003 02:54 (twenty-three years ago)
could you please please please get me Gene Gene the Dancing Machine's autograph?
― James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 30 January 2003 05:41 (twenty-three years ago)
hey Dallas Deadgirl! i can't remember if you're in Austin or not - if so are there community organizations that are interested in issues like this? they might give you some help of some kind. anyway if i could give you any advice about any of this it would be this. choose ONE of those things and organize around it (or two or three might be connected in some way). it could be the thing you think you might have the most chance getting some parents behind, or it could be the thing you feel strongest about, or that would make the most difference to your job, or the quality of those kids' education. how helpful is the union dude (i assume 'dude' for some reason)
― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Thursday, 30 January 2003 05:53 (twenty-three years ago)