Crossing a Threshold

 The other day, I had a discussion about immigration, and it was the symptom of a bigger issue at the high school where I teach - that issue is rampant radical liberalism among the faculty that is also attempting to indoctrinate the students.  The immigration issue is but one facet of this though, as it is almost inciting students to riot.  There have been other issues as well though that I cannot get into now, being it could jeopardize my own standing.  However, it presents an issue about school models that shows that certain things they try to implement in Catholic schools even often don't work.  And, that is why when I heard my contract here was not being renewed I ended up having two of the best night's sleep I have had in months.  The relief is palpable, and it does make an impact on my mental wellbeing too - I feel a bit liberated in all honesty and it also allows me to be even brutally honest with things here.  On that last point, I annihilated the guidance counselor the other day - this woman is a young, somewhat clueless individual who relies on a vocabulary of buzzwords and Pavlovian slogans that attacks teachers for doing their jobs and I essentially gave her notice that enough is enough.  When I was growing up and when I was in school myself, the role of the guidance counselor was essentially that, guidance.  A good guidance counselor knew how to stay in their lane and not interfere with teachers doing what teachers are supposed to do.  However, in this society of touchy-feely BS it seems as if anyone gets offended by accountability, and guidance counselors like the one we have at this school feed that toxic mindset.  All-in-all, it was not the most professional thing to do blasting her, but it sure felt good!  The liberation at getting away from a toxic environment is exhilarating in all honesty.  Any rate, I digress so I will get back on track here shortly. 

While non-renewal of a teaching contract can be a serious thing, in my case it was actually a mutual decision.  The principal here, who actually is a nice guy but he inherited a mess, understood my level of discomfort with this particular school and he in essence did me a merciful favor.  I was also assured by him that I would be able to get a good recommendation from him, so I am not worried.  I am also anticipating some bites soon for other positions, so I am not overall worried.   There are a couple of reasons why.

To begin, this is an inner-city school - it is not my most desirable environment.  Secondly, this is a minority school for the most part - the school is about 50% Black and 46% Hispanic. I recognize that talent comes in all ethnicities, but let me just give a realistic picture of what dealing with certain minority students is like.  The Black students, in particular, tend to be somewhat unstructured and lack a lot of things they should have.  They often are loud, disruptive, and they don't take regard for the concerns of others.  With a few of them, they are even at reading levels far below their grade, and that is concerning because their test scores are often inflated with adjusted data. While this is not true of all Black students - I have had the good experience of teaching a lot of exceptional young Black students who really shine - there is a mentality among a significant percentage of them that even Black teachers who have them cannot seem to understand, especially these recent generations of students.  They are loud, have no respect for any authority, and they also tend to account for about 80% of the discipline and conduct problems in the classes we have here.  This has resulted in a high rate of teacher turnover at this particular school too, as there were days I did not want to even get up to come into work knowing what I have to deal with at times.  While this may be construed by some ideologues as "racist," I would invite such individuals to stand in a classroom like that for a week and see how they would do with them. I note that attitude in particular with the aforementioned guidance counselor - she loves to rant on social media about how every White person is "racist" (she herself is White and Jewish, and also extremely liberal) but when she was asked to cover a class (coverage is a major issue here too) she would quake in fear like you were asking her to wade in a cesspool full of leeches.  People like her love to throw around that word "racist" as a buzzword, but they are not the ones standing in a classroom with about 14 loud and disruptive Black students who have studying as the last thing on their minds.  We do this everyday as teachers, and the rich White liberal idiots who like to use "racism" as a buzzword for anyone who disagrees with them (I notice it is not usually Blacks who are making those accusations either, which also is revealing) don't have the courage to deal with a dozen rowdy kids in a classroom who look different from them.  I am over that too, and in all honesty the term "racism" has lost all meaning.  When something becomes a mere buzzword for armchair activists, the term loses its meaning.  And, it gives license for real racism to lurk underneath the surface.  This is why we need to be more nuanced in how we use certain terminology.

The 46% Hispanic student population is a lot more manageable - they are not perfect, but for the most part they are generally mindful of their attitudes and many of them are my best students.  I think this has merit in the way they are raised, as Hispanic families do tend to be more traditional and somewhat more disciplined in how they raise their kids.  As mentioned, it does not mean the Hispanic kids are perfect - there are occasional issues with them too, but not on the same scale as it is with the Black students.  Also, the major issue with Hispanic students is that many of them are being used as political pawns in the immigration debate - the campus minister at our school here is notorious for that, as he is a proponent of "liberation theology" and has a feelings-based rhetoric that is rooted in his time living in El Salvador.  The problem with the campus minister though is that much of what he talks about has been disproven by others I know - he tends to use bleeding-heart tactics to make him sound like an "expert," but he fails to understand that he is not the only one who knows people from Latin American countries.  I lived in Florida for over 27 years, and in those years I got to know a lot of people from Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, and a variety of other Central and South American lands.  Many of these people are still close friends, and I talk with them regularly - they have discredited much of the fiery "justice" rhetoric that the campus minister here spouts, and he has no clue that I know he is lying about a lot of what he says.  This political disparity is another reason why my contract has ended. 

To summarize, there are three major reasons why my contract here is thankfully ended - class conduct, political ideology, and the whole issue of this urban environment.  I am ready anytime to move away from Baltimore, provided the right opportunity facilitates it.  I have the feelers out, but am just waiting for a bite.  Please keep that in your prayers, and I will update accordingly. 

Thank you for allowing me to share today, and will see you next time.