Urban School Problems

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Home : 2002 : November : 2

Urban School Problems
By Alisha

Dear Diane,
Your problems are similar to mine. I work in an inner city school in Baltimore, Maryland. Our administration is horrible and non-supportive. The teachers have to buy most of their supplies. There are no consequences
are time-out places outside of the classroom for disruptive students. I have one more test to take to get my certification. I am wondering if I can make it to the end of the year. A teacher was almost attacked by a man who came into her room and told her not to move he had a gun, but she was brave, screamed and moved a lot of furniture and escaped. This man was arrested and it

was found that he had a record for brutally raping ohter women in the past. Our principal kept everything hush-hush from the staff and parents. She never mentioned anyhting about it or warned our staff. Everyone is afraid of her. They keep telling me if I try to leave she will blackball me so I cannot get another teaching job. This school makes my soul weary. We never really go on any field trips and if you ever try to mention any ideas of things to lift student morale and make school a more fun and engaging place to be, you are shot down. Our school has been reconstituted by the state of Maryland. They come to visit us every two or three weeks under the guise of helping us, when really all they do is criticize us and write us up for things that we don't have.
Anyway, Ijust wanted to let you know that it is god to know that I am not the only one. Thank you for sharing your situation. If you have any advice about what I can do, please e-mail me back.