Re: [UC] RE: West Philly High re recent violence thereOh come on, Wilma. I have many relatives who are teachers in city school systems here and in Maine and California. They all bemoan various problems associated with "No Student Left Behind" programs. A friend told me today who works at Univ City High that violence has long been a problem in the schools; for some reason, only now, it cannot be covered up any longer. Anyone who reads the headlines, or between the lines, can see that this is a problem that is not newly surfacing.
The more you learn about teaching and children and parents and administration and principals, the less you understand what the Hell is going on. It would be easy to blame the principals. And maybe that is a good place to start, based on a girlfriend's constant complaining while teaching in this faire city over the 60s, 70s and 80s. Wilma, I was being glib a little bit in my last post. Shame on me. Mea culpa. C'est dommage. As Mr. Rogers would say, Won't you be my friend?" sk P.S. I learned also today that one must be a certain percentage of Indian before being able to teach on a reservation these days. Oh well.... ----- Original Message ----- From: Wilma de Soto<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: SKnight<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ; UnivCity listserv<mailto:UnivCity@list.purple.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2007 7:12 AM Subject: Re: [UC] RE: West Philly High re recent violence there I knew someone would intimate that subliminally teachers are to blame for what is happening to them. Here's the rub; people are just only now beginning to see a problem of violence in schools and society. What they have shut their eyes and ears to for so long is that these problems are SO deep and still they do not realize the extent of the problem. It is everywhere, even on Indian reservations. On 3/13/07 10:45 PM, "SKnight" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Wilma, The only instance of violence against a teacher that I recall seeing first-hand while teaching at Camden was done to a teacher who was nasty and talked down to the student. She practically goaded the student to slap her several times. I did not like the way she treated students. When I read of these assaults, I thought back to that incident and wondered how much was the result of behavior that was not as acceptable as one would like on the teachers' part. Nevertheless, it certainly didn't appear that these teachers were in the wrong, but appearances never really tell the story, do they? If I were to return to teaching, I would choose an Indian reservation. You can keep these big city schools. sk ----- Original Message ----- From: Wilma de Soto <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]><mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Bill Sanderson <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]><mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ; UnivCity listserv <mailto:UnivCity@list.purple.com><mailto:UnivCity@list.purple.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 7:22 AM Subject: Re: [UC] RE: West Philly High re recent violence there Every child deserves to have a building that is nice and new. Even I deserve to work in a building where I can at least use the restroom and find it reasonably clean and tidy. I was relating what has happened in new building such as my University City story. The prevailing sentiment seems to me "If it's not mine personally, I don't care about it." This goes for books, furniture, walls, lockers any school property or property belonging to others. If you touch MINE however, I'll kill or harm you. To wit, Frank Burd and the proverbial not allowed in school anyway iPod. Mr. Burd (who REALLY didn't have to do so), was going to return after class anyway. Not good enough! They had to "get him". On 3/13/07 12:17 AM, "Bill Sanderson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Yes to number 1, perhaps not to number 2-but in both cases-the need was not driven by the "problems" you refer to, but by the need to renovate or replace the aging building. I haven't heard anyone suggest that the new building will somehow result in model behavior by all the students. Are you suggesting that the students are somehow undeserving of a new building? In any case, none of them will be there when the new building is completed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, March 12, 2007 4:13 PM To: UnivCity@list.purple.com Subject: Re: [UC] RE: West Philly High re recent violence there In a message dated 3/12/2007 4:06:26 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: It's been that way for a LONG time. Not just at West Philadelphia High either but all over the district. At least you don't have to go inside and spend your day in that sort of environment, be trained and re-trained and re-trained in the name of "School Reform." OR Be held accountable if they don't do well on standardized tests; have to present your credentials to proven "highly qualified" to be in there and try to teach them. OR See no consequences for the students or their parents; just you and/or your administrator. This is how people are treated who WANT to be there and want to teach. We shall see how the public reacts when contract negotiations start soon; as the district tries to pare down even more of our rights and heap more responsibility on us. Does anybody think that all the time spent on the "forum" to pretend Community Input drove the plans to build a new facility for West Philadelphia High has had any positive impact? Does anybody think that a new building will solve any or all of the problems? (I don't, and can point to what's happened at the new campus-like Atlantic City High School to back up this belief. It's as bad there as it was in the old high school building. Always at your service and ready for a dialog ® brand resident and housing provider, Al Krigman ------------------------------------------------------------------------ AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at AOL.com <http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000339><http://www.aol.com/?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000339> .
