Letter from a teacher

I work in a school. I work in a charter school. That is a loaded statement. A colleague of mine sent out a letter, just asking questions about our goals. This was my response:

"First I want to say that you are preaching to the choir. I feel like a hypocrite sometimes working here because it is not a place that I would send my children to yet. It’s not simply because there is no gym, or because there are fewer teachers of color here than any school I’ve ever visited this century in New York (to some that means nothing although there are some of us who know people that went all the way up to college seeing only one ethnicity of teacher), or because there seems to be a disconnect between “best practices” and the realities of life in a racist, sexist and economically oppressive world.

I do not think that as a whole all teachers are intentionally preparing students of color for life. In talking to the parents and some students, there are a few conclusions that I have come to. The hidden curriculum and null curriculum are alive and well within the building. Some students’ spirits are continually broken by persons who have either internalized the racism that has been exacted on them, or by persons whose White Privilege prevents them from realizing that their view on things is not always the most important and may actually be invalid. The lack of teaching about the connection to Africa and the regal lineage, instead of continuing to re-teach the 60s is sickening. Students here are given the expectations of being a white middle class pseudo-intellectual, forgetting that the program itself is based on the premise that students of color need so much more in terms of academics than other students. The fact of the matter is that we are not yet successful producing students who will challenge the dominant paradigm. Instead, we are making students who will be successful WITHIN the paradigm.

To me, it begins with who is hired. It isn’t enough for the person to be a teacher passionate about making a change- what is the change you feel needs to be made? What is your background (past teaching, business person, officer)? What preconceived notions do you bring to the table about these students? Are we creating another pipeline to prison in the way that we choose to “discipline”? Why can’t these kids read and comprehend? If it was one child, maybe I could understand; but it is the vast majority. Then, I think we need workshops that change minds about students of color. Students of color do not have a different type of brain from other students, but vicissitudes of life create a filter where realities might be different from our own. That difference is valid and should be appreciated instead of pushed aside because it has not been dealt with before. Finally, we need to take a look at ourselves. Why are we teaching in the first place? How hard are we trying to reach the students who we honestly do not like?

I am taking a statistics class right now that is pushing us to be purposeful in our research design. We analyzed the story of Jack the Beanstalk and discussed why Jack has been viewed as a hero, when he was irresponsible, a thief and a murderer. The conclusion was that we strangely have a different set of morals/objectives depending on who the characters are in the story. How do we do the same thing?

As for me, I’m here because it is my duty to counteract what many of these kids deal with everyday. No, I am not saying that I am the end all and be all, and I am not saying that my ethnic, cultural or religious affiliations automatically qualify me to help. I won’t talk to them like they’re animals because I would not want to be spoken to like that, and I would raise holy hell if I knew my child was spoken to that way. I won’t squelch what I see in them because I have some type of authority. I will act as if I gave birth to each and want to see the best for them. "