Sara,
You are correct in saying that the schools are always a little nuts before a holiday. We used to be able to mitigate the situation with small "celebrations" or watching a movie or the like--no more!! With the increased emphasis on tests and such, all of those kinds of lessons are out the window. So, you are fighting an uphill battle to keep their attention and, because so many of our teachers are from other areas of the country, we have waaaaaaaaaaaaay too many subs (or lack thereof) to deal with also. No wonder the students act out.

Wow! What an incredibly sad state of affairs!

When did teachers become targets for students and parents to assault, abuse, and physically/verbally vent frustrations on? Shortly after teachers became the reason for all that is wrong in the schools.

When did parents start being disdained, marginalized, multiple-fundraiser-pickpocketed and generally otherwise ignored by the school? Shortly after teachers and their unions decided that the parents were the reason for all that is wrong in the schools.

When did our school systems- in this district and across the country-fall into chaos? When our civic duty to and personal pride in educational accomplishments became less valuable. It happended when we forgot that education improves our prospects in life and our standard of living as nothing else can:not even $$MONEY.

As a child in school I was taught a simple refrain-"Labor for learning before you grow old, for learning is better than silver and gold. Silver and gold will vanish away, but a good education will never decay."

Enough said...

Sara,

It has not been a quiet school year. These incidents have just been the only ones to make the news. We've had a teacher attacked by a student, multiple fires, and even a soda-bottle bomb....not one has made the news because it is quickly pushed under the rug.

again fine the parents for every incident involving their kids. The problem is parents not being parents. A lot parents out there confuse RAISING a kid with PROVIDING for a kid. There is a big difference. Buying clothes and food is one thing. Teaching your child respect for others is quite another.

AT-

I agree with you for the most part, but I think you kind of contradict yourself a little. You first suggest that the reason that violence/abuse/assaults and the like are perpetrated against teachers is the constant blaming of teachers for all that is wrong in our schools.

But then you state that the reasons parents are disdained, marginalized and otherwise ignored is because of the teachers and their union decided parents were what was wrong with the system. That statement seems an awful lot like blaming the teachers for parent disenfranchisement-which is exactly the argument you make in your first statement about teacher blame. Contradictory to me.

Elaborations....maybe Im missing your point.

I would also disagree that schools are ignoring parents on ANY level. We all bust our bottoms to get as many parents engaged in their child's education. We call, we e-mail, we send letters home, we provide both day and evening hours to come to school, we give our own personal cell phone numbers, we make home visits.

The simple fact is that parents are disinterested because they dont value education or they lack the tools to see how important being engaged in the educational processes of their children leads to their success.

If Alonso has done anything (and for those who read this blog know, Im not his biggest fan), he has made parent outreach a priority. But until those parents see concrete (read NOT abstract) positive results of a great education for their children, they will continue not to care. That is where the community needs to step in and provide mentoring and role models who speak day and night of the importance to stay in school and get an education.

The parent that attacked a teacher should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. To have acted this way in front of other students is a shame,and we wonder what is wrong with our youth,it is the adults,and i pray that this so-called parent is sent to prison.

Veteran,

You make a great point and it is one that I have made many times. In the school I worked in with a teaching staff of 35, 17 of those teacher were from out of state and many of them would leave the day before a holiday creating a rough time for those left behind and for those who were left behind a good portion were unhappy because they would not get to their families or flights to other parts of the country until late or not until the next day. This leads only to the inevitable downward spiral of morale in the school building which then leads to higher teacher absenteeism because teachers begin to feel that the system does not care about them. I am not saying that this is right because it's not but the school system just needs to wake up and realize that MD is not producing enough "home town" teachers and that it could raise morale but simply adjusting it's calendar. Close school the day before thanksgiving - giving teachers a travel day, carefully look that the Winter and Spring Breaks and include travel days so teachers if they live out of state can safely return home to family and rest up. Just this simple change I bet would help with teacher retention overall.

As a mother of a son in Baltimore County, I thank you for posting these tidbits. Teachers, in my opinion, need to be armed and start giving these children a taste of their own medicine. But there is no doubt about it, my son is going to private school or we're moving to Howard County.

It interesting how some of these topics come up from time to time. Every year there are teachers who are robbed, teachers whose laptops were stolen from them (I personally know of 2 incidences last year). There are people whose cars were stolen (same school last year as above incidences). It happens more frequently than is always reported out or seen on youtube. Why should any professional have to deal with this? Why do you think teachers move on? Until we as a system decide to actually HOLD STUDENTS ACCOUNTABLE FOR ALL OF THEIR ACTIONS, we will never be able to fully prepare them for the world.

Nobody is teaching anything in the city today, get serious. To say that kids are acting out because of the middle school stabbing is probably not true either. The reality is the kids are running crazy in the schools because they are NOT accountable for their actions. A three day suspension for violence is not a punishment for kids who are truant 2-3 days a week already.

On this Thanksgiving Holiday we should all be thankful that violence statistics and suspensions are down throughout the city. Clearly, the numbers show that the schools are much more safe. Clearly.

For those of you talking about out-of-state teachers leaving early before a holiday, creating a need for subs, and increasing the chaos, just a note: BCPSS is one of the only systems (if not the only one) in the area to have school in session the entire day before Thanksgiving. All other systems and parochial schools dismiss at least a half day early (if not a whole day early) before Thanksgiving, winter break and spring break. The long-ago days of BCPSS being comprised of mostly local teachers who don't need to travel for holidays are over, and the schedule should reflect this.

Also, I agree -- the year has NOT been quiet -- it's just that incidents don't make the news. Even one of the citywide high schools had 3 days in a row of fires in the bathroom a few weeks ago! That didn't make the news...

Just so everyone knows.

I have friends that are high-school teachers in Westminster. There was a fight with a stabbing in their school earlier this year.

But that didn't make the news. If that had happened in the city it would have been all over the news.

Incidents happen in EVERY school system, all the time and they are swept under the rug. Most are dealt with internally and through the due process that they require.

This week things made the news. At my school we had bathroom fires three-days in a row. We sent a letter home with parents, dealt with the situation and it was taken care of.

An alum I talked to said the same thing happened in the 1970's when he went there for about two weeks. Fortunately, they caught their guy, ours got away.

But the situation was handled, order was restored and we moved on with our lives.

More Veteran,

I am glad that you feel the schools are much safe this year. Maybe yours is; mine is not and teachers who have been there for years are saying enough. With luck, we might retain a third of faculty for the coming year. #1 reason for leaving--Children not being held accountable for their actions. Enough said!

everything u hear on tv is only put of the story. the news make things more then what they are i love forest park and the reason for this mess is because all drop outs was told to come back to school wich are 99%gang members or in a group home wich make it bad for the new 9th kids because they just trying to fit in

Violence is hidden in the BCPSS. Principals don't report certain actions to keep their school from being called "persistently dangerous".

We are an elementary/middle school, which is not a Choice school, but we have been receiving students from other schools that are not making the grade. This requires the students to ride 2-3 buses to get to school. Obviously, they are late everyday.

Gang affiliation has been noted through gang signs, and the incoming students wanting to wear their colors instead of a uniform. One of these new students came to school with a baseball bat (a lethal weapon). The bat was taken, but no action was taken in reference to the student. This same student on another occassion, took his belt off, wrap it around his hand, and swung the buckle end at other students in the parking lot and in the cafeteria. He was caught doing this, told to put his belt on and go to class. No other action was taken.

What's next? Will this student bring a gun or a knife to school?

We must hold the children as well as the parents accountable for what is happening with these students. But more importantly, our principals and the Administration must realize the crisis at hand. It's sad that we only hear about a student's concern after a tragedy has taken place in a school. We need to be more proactive in getting positive activities going within the schools so that we will not have to react to the tragic death of a student.

David,
I follow your thinking. What I was trying to emphasize-by taking two divergent paths-is that, depending on where you stand, the blame for everything that is wrong can land on anyone- parents, teachers, union, Dr. A., you, or I.

As a parent, who was a teacher, I got to see the issue from both sides of the fence. Parent involvement at schools is lacklustre depending on how you define involvement. Personally, my mother never showed up at my school the entire period I was in elem/middle/high except for maybe orientation. By the criteria of bake sale involvement and physical presence, I guess she would be considered a parent that was uninvolved. She was a single mother, raising two children, and that placed limits on her time. BUT in our home the message was extremely clear: an education is high priority. So...by the criteria of supporting the day to day mission of the school she was definitely involved.

As a married parent, raising two children, there are limits on my time. BUT in our home the message is extremely clear: an education is high priority! We do homework on schedule, we keep track of school events, we respond to teacher emails, and we send money for fundraisers.
My child's teacher told me last report card period that she would not need to see me. I taught, so I know that is code for, your child doesn't give me any problems so we don't need to meet face to face.

Also, schools are not exactly CLEAR on what it is they want from parents. What exactly do schools need to call to say? Most of the letters I have gotten are about sending money. I can't come to school during the day or evening hours because I need to work to send the money to the school. I have never gotten a teacher's personal cell phone numbers and am not sure I would welcome a home visit because my life is busy and stressful enough.If you are right, and I think you are, that "parents are are disinterested because they don't value education or they lack the tools to see how important being engaged in the educational processes of their children leads to their success" then perhaps our strategies are ineffective. I know that when I taught some of mine were. Schools shouldn't be trying to engage parents by using strategies of here and now, they should be trying to engage parents by making the connection between the here and next.