Day to day life for public school teachers is something few people know about. Sure, the op-ed writers say we're overpaid, we're underworked, and our unions need to be broken, but let one of them take an 80% pay cut and try controlling 34 teenagers at a time. And it's not the kids who cause some of the most egregious problems. I wrote before about finding my trailer's desk filled with fast food, and about how two of the three drawers were pretty much ruined, being highly sticky from the Coca-Cola that had been spilled in them.
One day last week, I discovered someone had thrown an ice cream party in my trailer. It did not require much detective work, as the desktop had been covered with ice cream and someone had taken the time to stick several paper plates to the stuff. The plates were festively placed over the desktop, giving it a polka-dot theme.
Now I don't much use the desk. I usually dump my bag on it, take attendance, and leave extra books in the one drawer that wasn't sabatoged. After that, I leave the desk alone and it leaves me alone. At least that's been our understanding. But since the desktop was no longer usable, I removed the drawer with supplies, enlisted a hearty kid to help, and carried the useless desk outside the trailer. After all, it wasn't like there were paper towels or anything in the trailer bathroom to clean up.
So there it sat, till a couple of custodians came by asking why no one had told them the desk was out there. They had brought a dolly, and asked if they could take the desk. I told them they could do what they pleased with it. They asked if I wanted another desk, and I said sure, that would be great.
But so far, there isn't one. And over the weekend, someone removed the last drawer, along with all the books and supplies that were in it. I don't really need the desk.
But I really wonder what would happen if someone did this to "reformers" like Joel Klein. Or Al Sharpton. Or Michelle Rhee.
Or Barack Obama.
You never hear them complain about this stuff.
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