Abominations

ABOMINATION: extreme disgust and hatred : LOATHING

While in temple on this Yom Kippur, praying for forgiveness for my sins, one stood out more than any others this year

For the abominations we committed.

Reading this, I couldn't help but think about the abominations heaped upon the children and the teachers of NYC this year by our wonderful mayor and school chancellor. Here is a list of things I think these two should be repenting for and should be trying to correct:

For the abomination of class size so large that students can not receive the help they are entitled to.

For the abomination of giving guidance counselors case loads so large that students must wait weeks to get an appointment and sometimes even longer to get into the correct class.

For the abomination of classes that meet in rooms that have been split into two with walls that are not sound proof so that every sound from the adjacent room is heard in their classroom making hearing and learning hard.

For the abomination of classes in these rooms having seating arrangements that make it impossible for kids at either end to see the blackboard.

For the abominations of making kids stand in classrooms or sit on floors to do their work.

For the abomination of making teachers sit on the floor in the hallways to receive extra help from their teachers.

For the abomination of forcing kids to sit in tin can trailers without working air conditioners (and possibly no heat) or windows that open.

For the abomination of forcing kids to be in a room without a working thermostat so the room is either too hot or too cold.

For the abomination of forcing kids and teachers to pass a fetid pool of water to get to class every day.

For the abomination of not giving teachers a proper work space, computers and telephones.

For the abomination of bathrooms without soap, towels and in some cases running water.

For the abomination of having experienced, good teachers wandering the halls as an ATR, instead of putting them in a classroom where they can do some good.

Klein and Bloomberg: prayer will not help absolve you of these sins. Actions will.

Library Problems

The library is supposed to have a center for teachers to work. There are four computers and a printer. Surely enough workspace for over 300 teachers.

I went to the library Friday afternoon to type out a worksheet for my afternoon classes. I was lucky. There was actually a computer available. I worked and worked and felt good when I hit the print key and heard the printer happily printing away. Unfortunately, there was no ink in the printer.

I went to the librarian and asked her to fix it. She said it was not her problem. I said, that is the problem with this library, nothing works. She became indignant, still claiming there was nothing she could do. The computer in her office works, but of course I could not use that one. I'm only a teacher, not nearly as important as a librarian.

Maybe she couldn't fix the problem. Maybe the problem belonged to someone else. I still had a sheet that could not be printed. There was still a major problem with the library, whether she liked it or not. Our school library does not fulfill the needs of the staff or the students. Someone should accept responsibility and fix it. Our librarian needs to stop getting so defensive whenever a problem arises and do something to fix it

By the way, there is still no ink in the printer and no word on when it will be working again.