Just like Cops, Teachers Deserve Respect

 

    I’ve been reading the continual vilification of Carranza in the daily papers https://nypost.com/2019/07/26/carranzas-ugly-new-r-for-city-schools/?utm_campaign=iosapp&utm_source=pasteboard_app and don’t believe he should be blamed. He’s being blamed, in part, for demoting White women and creating a hostile atmosphere for these city employees.  Now some people may not realize that Carranza does not create policy for the DOE. Policy and direction comes from the person in charge -  Bill deBlasio.  There may be something to these ladies lawsuits and I say that in part based on what I read in the paper today concerning another similar suit brought on by two white employees of the NYPD. https://nypost.com/2019/07/29/ex-top-cops-claim-they-were-fired-for-being-older-female-and-white/?utm_campaign=iosapp&utm_source=pasteboard_app

    If you’ve been reading the papers lately you may have noticed the verbal and water attacks on police officers. Not unusual really, but the response was - there was no immediate consequences for the offending thugs. Attacks like that have been happening to teachers on an almost daily basis in New York City for years. Years ago I had a student spit in my face when I was trying to calm him down. If you spit in the face of a transit worker or a cop, it’s considered an assault. The transit worker also gets a month off with pay and counseling. If you spit in the face of a teacher it’s considered just another day. You are expected to go back to work the next day with the same kid. No one addresses this - especially the lousy UFT, that should be demanding change. How many times have you been told ‘Suck my dick!’? Ten? A hundred? Chances are if your a high school teacher in the ‘hood it’s closer to a hundred. For me as a former dean it was closer to a thousand. I never got desensitized to it. The fact that there were no consequences for the students sickened me. I emphasized with the cop on the subway that couldn’t do anything. https://nypost.com/2019/07/23/video-shows-uniformed-nypd-cop-harassed-on-subway-by-foul-mouthed-rider/ How about the water attacks? As a teacher have you ever had something thrown at you? I have had water bottles, batteries and food thrown at me. I’ve seen many teachers hit by flying projectiles - especially books. Bloomberg’s Pearson books were the worst - complete drivel inside and weighing at least five pounds, they were weapons of mass destruction. There were many outrages I witnessed - a new teacher covered in foam from a fire extinguisher, twice. He was afraid he’d be discontinued if he reported it and begged me not to do anything about it. The very next day the kids did it again. The worst I remember was when the kids threw a glue trap on a new teacher’s dress. The teacher was nearly catatonic from whatever meds she was on and only realized at the end of the day that the squeaking she was hearing was coming from the live mouse stuck on the glue trap that was attached to her dress. The students assaulted her later that week and she defended herself. She was arrested and spent the rest of the month sitting in a little desk outside the principal’s office before being moved to a rubber-room.

    What’s my point in reliving these old nightmares? First realize Carranza isn’t the devil, he’s not in charge. Second, realize that cops and teachers need to treated with respect - if they aren’t, all of society is in trouble. The NYC Police Union is making sure the thugs that threw water on those officers are being arrested. What about the UFT? Mulgrew knows of the numerous physical and verbal attacks on teachers and has done nothing. The new NYCDOE discipline code https://nypost.com/2019/06/21/de-blasios-latest-push-to-make-schools-less-safe/?utm_campaign=iosapp&utm_source=pasteboard_app  that goes into effect in September is not a discipline code. It is an open invitation to attack teachers without consequence. https://nypost.com/2019/06/20/nypd-wont-arrest-students-for-low-level-offenses-in-schools/