DCPS teachers are quitting at an alarming rate, how can parents help?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with many of the previous posters. As a new DCPS high school teacher, a boy came into my classroom and began dragging a girl around by her hair. She picked up the trash can and hit him with it until he let her go. Though I was shouting for security, none came. The students all knew who the boy was and ID'd him to the VP, however his behavior was never addressed in any way. He was in school the next day like nothing happened. I pestered the VP to at least have a sit down with both the girl and the boy, but it never happened.

I have SO many stories like this. I gave up long ago on security or support from the admins. I lock my classroom door from the inside to keep my students safe. The students are so far behind and have so many troubles, it is exhausting. Not to mention many students are hungry and the (free and reduced) food they feed in the cafeteria is absolutely disgusting.

The school has a nice building, a beautiful closet full of whiteboard markers, new textbooks, and supplies for activities - all things my previous school didn't have- but until basic needs are met, all those nice things are useless.

Why the hell didn't someone call the police?

If I were treated this way, it's what I would do. If my child were treated this way, it's what I'd want her to do. Why would you observe criminal assault and not file a police report?!

What school are you getting paid to show up at, and ignore criminal behavior?

You do realize to a lot of these kids this is normal behavior right? It's behavior they see at home and on the street. So while you would expect your daughter to call the police, in these communities you would be considered a snitch and not taking care of your own business.

Besides at my DCPS school if we call the police we better have a bloody face or major injury. Otherwise he'll hath no fury like the principal. You won't be long employed at DCPS if you go callling the police about everything you see

[Anonymous]

^^^ The problems are at the top and reach down to the principals. Then you got Grosso saying stop the suspensions. Everything at the top stinks to high hell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^ The problems are at the top and reach down to the principals. Then you got Grosso saying stop the suspensions. Everything at the top stinks to high hell.

That's NOT what Grosso has proposed. He's pushed for more data driven measures like restorative justice, which is very different than doing nothing. At a visceral level out of school suspensions may seem like the answer to bad behavior but in many cases it simply pushes struggling students further behind and exacerbates drop out rates. That's no excuse for principals/VPs who turn a blind eye to violent behavior and don't support teachers but simply suspending students isn't the answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with many of the previous posters. As a new DCPS high school teacher, a boy came into my classroom and began dragging a girl around by her hair. She picked up the trash can and hit him with it until he let her go. Though I was shouting for security, none came. The students all knew who the boy was and ID'd him to the VP, however his behavior was never addressed in any way. He was in school the next day like nothing happened. I pestered the VP to at least have a sit down with both the girl and the boy, but it never happened.

I have SO many stories like this. I gave up long ago on security or support from the admins. I lock my classroom door from the inside to keep my students safe. The students are so far behind and have so many troubles, it is exhausting. Not to mention many students are hungry and the (free and reduced) food they feed in the cafeteria is absolutely disgusting.

The school has a nice building, a beautiful closet full of whiteboard markers, new textbooks, and supplies for activities - all things my previous school didn't have- but until basic needs are met, all those nice things are useless.

Why the hell didn't someone call the police?

If I were treated this way, it's what I would do. If my child were treated this way, it's what I'd want her to do. Why would you observe criminal assault and not file a police report?!

What school are you getting paid to show up at, and ignore criminal behavior?

You do realize to a lot of these kids this is normal behavior right? It's behavior they see at home and on the street. So while you would expect your daughter to call the police, in these communities you would be considered a snitch and not taking care of your own business.

Besides at my DCPS school if we call the police we better have a bloody face or major injury. Otherwise he'll hath no fury like the principal. You won't be long employed at DCPS if you go callling the police about everything you see

and if you can't manage your classroom and maintain safety for all students you have absolutely no business being in that classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with many of the previous posters. As a new DCPS high school teacher, a boy came into my classroom and began dragging a girl around by her hair. She picked up the trash can and hit him with it until he let her go. Though I was shouting for security, none came. The students all knew who the boy was and ID'd him to the VP, however his behavior was never addressed in any way. He was in school the next day like nothing happened. I pestered the VP to at least have a sit down with both the girl and the boy, but it never happened.

I have SO many stories like this. I gave up long ago on security or support from the admins. I lock my classroom door from the inside to keep my students safe. The students are so far behind and have so many troubles, it is exhausting. Not to mention many students are hungry and the (free and reduced) food they feed in the cafeteria is absolutely disgusting.

The school has a nice building, a beautiful closet full of whiteboard markers, new textbooks, and supplies for activities - all things my previous school didn't have- but until basic needs are met, all those nice things are useless.

Why the hell didn't someone call the police?

If I were treated this way, it's what I would do. If my child were treated this way, it's what I'd want her to do. Why would you observe criminal assault and not file a police report?!

What school are you getting paid to show up at, and ignore criminal behavior?

You do realize to a lot of these kids this is normal behavior right? It's behavior they see at home and on the street. So while you would expect your daughter to call the police, in these communities you would be considered a snitch and not taking care of your own business.

Besides at my DCPS school if we call the police we better have a bloody face or major injury. Otherwise he'll hath no fury like the principal. You won't be long employed at DCPS if you go callling the police about everything you see

and if you can't manage your classroom and maintain safety for all students you have absolutely no business being in that classroom.

Have you ever been to a high school in Ward 8? In classroom as a teacher? Or even in Ward 8 at all? These are 16, 17, 18 and yes even 19 year old MEN who are walking the halls fighting. These aren't small children.

It's easy to judge when you have never taught let alone visit a Ward 8 school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^ The problems are at the top and reach down to the principals. Then you got Grosso saying stop the suspensions. Everything at the top stinks to high hell.

That's NOT what Grosso has proposed. He's pushed for more data driven measures like restorative justice, which is very different than doing nothing. At a visceral level out of school suspensions may seem like the answer to bad behavior but in many cases it simply pushes struggling students further behind and exacerbates drop out rates. That's no excuse for principals/VPs who turn a blind eye to violent behavior and don't support teachers but simply suspending students isn't the answer.

Restorative justice. What kind of gibberish is that? How about discipline, and support for teachers and their students who want to learn?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with many of the previous posters. As a new DCPS high school teacher, a boy came into my classroom and began dragging a girl around by her hair. She picked up the trash can and hit him with it until he let her go. Though I was shouting for security, none came. The students all knew who the boy was and ID'd him to the VP, however his behavior was never addressed in any way. He was in school the next day like nothing happened. I pestered the VP to at least have a sit down with both the girl and the boy, but it never happened.

I have SO many stories like this. I gave up long ago on security or support from the admins. I lock my classroom door from the inside to keep my students safe. The students are so far behind and have so many troubles, it is exhausting. Not to mention many students are hungry and the (free and reduced) food they feed in the cafeteria is absolutely disgusting.

The school has a nice building, a beautiful closet full of whiteboard markers, new textbooks, and supplies for activities - all things my previous school didn't have- but until basic needs are met, all those nice things are useless.

Why the hell didn't someone call the police?

If I were treated this way, it's what I would do. If my child were treated this way, it's what I'd want her to do. Why would you observe criminal assault and not file a police report?!

What school are you getting paid to show up at, and ignore criminal behavior?

You do realize to a lot of these kids this is normal behavior right? It's behavior they see at home and on the street. So while you would expect your daughter to call the police, in these communities you would be considered a snitch and not taking care of your own business.

Besides at my DCPS school if we call the police we better have a bloody face or major injury. Otherwise he'll hath no fury like the principal. You won't be long employed at DCPS if you go callling the police about everything you see

and if you can't manage your classroom and maintain safety for all students you have absolutely no business being in that classroom.

you are missing the whole point. It's hard to find teachers for these classrooms. It's really hard to find teachers that these older students will listen to. Who do you suggest we fill the classrooms with? This isn't a teacher problem. There are so many problems that go into this situation and the teacher is a tiny %

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with many of the previous posters. As a new DCPS high school teacher, a boy came into my classroom and began dragging a girl around by her hair. She picked up the trash can and hit him with it until he let her go. Though I was shouting for security, none came. The students all knew who the boy was and ID'd him to the VP, however his behavior was never addressed in any way. He was in school the next day like nothing happened. I pestered the VP to at least have a sit down with both the girl and the boy, but it never happened.

I have SO many stories like this. I gave up long ago on security or support from the admins. I lock my classroom door from the inside to keep my students safe. The students are so far behind and have so many troubles, it is exhausting. Not to mention many students are hungry and the (free and reduced) food they feed in the cafeteria is absolutely disgusting.

The school has a nice building, a beautiful closet full of whiteboard markers, new textbooks, and supplies for activities - all things my previous school didn't have- but until basic needs are met, all those nice things are useless.

Why the hell didn't someone call the police?

If I were treated this way, it's what I would do. If my child were treated this way, it's what I'd want her to do. Why would you observe criminal assault and not file a police report?!

What school are you getting paid to show up at, and ignore criminal behavior?

You do realize to a lot of these kids this is normal behavior right? It's behavior they see at home and on the street. So while you would expect your daughter to call the police, in these communities you would be considered a snitch and not taking care of your own business.

Besides at my DCPS school if we call the police we better have a bloody face or major injury. Otherwise he'll hath no fury like the principal. You won't be long employed at DCPS if you go callling the police about everything you see

And that, in a nutshell, explains why higher SES families do not want their children in schools with lower SES children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with many of the previous posters. As a new DCPS high school teacher, a boy came into my classroom and began dragging a girl around by her hair. She picked up the trash can and hit him with it until he let her go. Though I was shouting for security, none came. The students all knew who the boy was and ID'd him to the VP, however his behavior was never addressed in any way. He was in school the next day like nothing happened. I pestered the VP to at least have a sit down with both the girl and the boy, but it never happened.

I have SO many stories like this. I gave up long ago on security or support from the admins. I lock my classroom door from the inside to keep my students safe. The students are so far behind and have so many troubles, it is exhausting. Not to mention many students are hungry and the (free and reduced) food they feed in the cafeteria is absolutely disgusting.

The school has a nice building, a beautiful closet full of whiteboard markers, new textbooks, and supplies for activities - all things my previous school didn't have- but until basic needs are met, all those nice things are useless.

Why the hell didn't someone call the police?

If I were treated this way, it's what I would do. If my child were treated this way, it's what I'd want her to do. Why would you observe criminal assault and not file a police report?!

What school are you getting paid to show up at, and ignore criminal behavior?

You do realize to a lot of these kids this is normal behavior right? It's behavior they see at home and on the street. So while you would expect your daughter to call the police, in these communities you would be considered a snitch and not taking care of your own business.

Besides at my DCPS school if we call the police we better have a bloody face or major injury. Otherwise he'll hath no fury like the principal. You won't be long employed at DCPS if you go calling the police about everything you see

Another former DCPS teacher, I am now in MCPS. The straw that broke the camel's back for me, happened when my second grader brought a steak knife to the school to stab a boy he didn't like. I called the the school security. Teachers in DCPS are forbidden from calling the police, instead the school security officer or the administration are the only ones who can call. The school that I worked at worked with the local police station and had specific officers that were assigned to the school. So, whenever the school called, only the officers who worked closely with the school were called. The administration and security guards also had these officers personal cell phone numbers. This ensures that this is never a record of 911 being dialed from the school number. IF 911 if called from a school number, the administration and those in the office have to report it and file an incident report with central office.

Why is this, you may ask? As someone mentioned before, administrators in DCPS are only concerned about staying ahead of scandals and hopping from job to job.

The other straw that broke the camel's back for me happened when a 5th grader was arrested on school grounds because he had robbed someone with a gun a few days before with his brother. The kid was literally handcuffed and laughing and smiling because it was cool and he got "swag" points.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with many of the previous posters. As a new DCPS high school teacher, a boy came into my classroom and began dragging a girl around by her hair. She picked up the trash can and hit him with it until he let her go. Though I was shouting for security, none came. The students all knew who the boy was and ID'd him to the VP, however his behavior was never addressed in any way. He was in school the next day like nothing happened. I pestered the VP to at least have a sit down with both the girl and the boy, but it never happened.

I have SO many stories like this. I gave up long ago on security or support from the admins. I lock my classroom door from the inside to keep my students safe. The students are so far behind and have so many troubles, it is exhausting. Not to mention many students are hungry and the (free and reduced) food they feed in the cafeteria is absolutely disgusting.

The school has a nice building, a beautiful closet full of whiteboard markers, new textbooks, and supplies for activities - all things my previous school didn't have- but until basic needs are met, all those nice things are useless.

Why the hell didn't someone call the police?

If I were treated this way, it's what I would do. If my child were treated this way, it's what I'd want her to do. Why would you observe criminal assault and not file a police report?!

What school are you getting paid to show up at, and ignore criminal behavior?

You do realize to a lot of these kids this is normal behavior right? [b] It's behavior they see at home and on the street. So while you would expect your daughter to call the police, in these communities you would be considered a snitch[/b] and not taking care of your own business.

Besides at my DCPS school if we call the police we better have a bloody face or major injury. Otherwise he'll hath no fury like the principal. You won't be long employed at DCPS if you go callling the police about everything you see

And that, in a nutshell, explains why higher SES families do not want their children in schools with lower SES children.

I guess I'll be a voice of dissension here--I just want to say we should be careful not to stereotype all kids from lower SES backgrounds. I grew up with many lower SES kids (many were bused in from the projects on the other side of town). Not all of them fit the stereotype. Some were quiet kids who did well in school despite their circumstances. Many weren't doing super well academically; more like middling, but were not in trouble often and did not see this behavior in their own homes.

Yes, there was a significant minority of these kids in my schools--maybe 10-20%--who got in trouble fairly frequently. Perhaps it's even higher in DC, and to some extent, it may even be a matter of survival given concentrated poverty, high crime rates, and trauma exposure in their neighborhoods (i.e., acting "tough" so that they won't be targeted by bullies). However, let's be careful not to paint all of these kids with the same brush.

[Anonymous]

^^^ Why can't we be careful and create 100% safe zones where this brutal behavior isn't tolerated and is dealt with. Why can't we have transparency so people can trust their school and know what the heck is going on in there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with many of the previous posters. As a new DCPS high school teacher, a boy came into my classroom and began dragging a girl around by her hair. She picked up the trash can and hit him with it until he let her go. Though I was shouting for security, none came. The students all knew who the boy was and ID'd him to the VP, however his behavior was never addressed in any way. He was in school the next day like nothing happened. I pestered the VP to at least have a sit down with both the girl and the boy, but it never happened.

I have SO many stories like this. I gave up long ago on security or support from the admins. I lock my classroom door from the inside to keep my students safe. The students are so far behind and have so many troubles, it is exhausting. Not to mention many students are hungry and the (free and reduced) food they feed in the cafeteria is absolutely disgusting.

The school has a nice building, a beautiful closet full of whiteboard markers, new textbooks, and supplies for activities - all things my previous school didn't have- but until basic needs are met, all those nice things are useless.

Why the hell didn't someone call the police?

If I were treated this way, it's what I would do. If my child were treated this way, it's what I'd want her to do. Why would you observe criminal assault and not file a police report?!

What school are you getting paid to show up at, and ignore criminal behavior?

You do realize to a lot of these kids this is normal behavior right? It's behavior they see at home and on the street. So while you would expect your daughter to call the police, in these communities you would be considered a snitch and not taking care of your own business.

Besides at my DCPS school if we call the police we better have a bloody face or major injury. Otherwise he'll hath no fury like the principal. You won't be long employed at DCPS if you go callling the police about everything you see

and if you can't manage your classroom and maintain safety for all students you have absolutely no business being in that classroom.

Ha! You haven't got a clue, pp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^ Why can't we be careful and create 100% safe zones where this brutal behavior isn't tolerated and is dealt with. Why can't we have transparency so people can trust their school and know what the heck is going on in there?

Why can't we have a world without terrorists, too?

It's because those who behave badly, want to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^ Why can't we be careful and create 100% safe zones where this brutal behavior isn't tolerated and is dealt with. Why can't we have transparency so people can trust their school and know what the heck is going on in there?

Why can't we have a world without terrorists, too?

It's because those who behave badly, want to.

And those in authority need to actually maintain discipline, and be given a mandate, support and resources to do it. The latter is totally lacking.

[Anonymous]

I am not quitting because of behavior problems, although I'll admit they're not fun. I'm quitting because I'm sick of admin who have less teaching experience than me - and absolutely zero experience in my field - telling me that I'm "developing" after receiving effective or highly effective ratings from others. I'm sick of being told by admin that because my kids are behind grade level standards in reading, that I "don't have time" to teach social/emotional skills. I'm sick of the system acting like the only thing that matters is doing better on the end of year tests. I'm tired of top-down regulations from people in central office who have no idea what it's like to actually be in my classroom.