Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3021, the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public School Facilities Act, by a vote of 250-164. Despite the issuance of a veto threat by President Bush, 27 members of his own party voted for the bill.
This is a tremendous victory for public schools, educators and children. The legislation authorizes $6.4 billion annually to help states and school districts address school conditions that compromise learning and teaching. The bill also creates more than 100,000 well-paying construction jobs and supports AFT efforts to promote green, sustainable schools.
This is important stuff because we need more school renovations, repairs, and new construction. Have you seen some of the conditions in the city schools? There are some scary school buildings.
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I was teaching today and one of my students says to another student, "You think you're tough? My Mom is tough. She's been in jail at least 15 times for fighting. She'll mess you up and not even care!" So I'm listening to this. This Mom was here in the room this morning delivering her daughter's backpack. We've talked numerous times. She's a nice lady. It doesn't matter but it makes you think. I'm happy I'm on the woman's good side. How many places do you work where you are surrounded by people that have been incarcerated? Just a glimpse into my life for you, gentle reader.
The kids are getting nuttier by the minute. I wrote my share of referrals for detention today. All the teachers did. I notice as I wander the building how even the most patient and mild mannered of us have changed. Everyone has some steel in their voice. No one has any patience left. Thank goodness the year is almost done. Everyone is spent. The sad part is although I'm spent, the students are not ready for the next grade. There's so much they don't know. I wish I could have done a better job for them. Pouring my guts out every day wasn't enough.
2 comments:
Hello there, I am a pre-service teacher reading blogs for a class and your blog caught my attention. I have wanted to teach in an inner city school for some time, but reading your blogs make me think hard about it. Your last comment really struck me though. "There's so much they don't know. I wish I could have done a better job for them. Pouring my guts out every day wasn't enough." Doesn't that make you want to keep trying for the one chance that you might help someone? I never saw if you decided to stay or not at the school...what's the verdict?
As I read over this blog I realized that I was not sure of what exactly the H.R. 3021 bill was so I went to research it even more on the web. Once I read all of which the bill entails I understand why teachers are rejoicing. It is very important in my own opinion for all students to have the same experiences and resources but that is just not reality. In one of my foundations of education classroom we watched a video clip on how bad some schools and their facilities are; needless to say it was very shocking. Where I am doing my pre-service lab experiences is a school system that has several resources and sometimes I feel like they live in a bubble here and it is not real world. I am actually in a technology class right now for the classroom and this new bill also entails making sure schools have the newest technology. This is very important because technology is becoming so prevalent in our society and it is necessary for students to have access to technology through their school. It seems to me that if the government took the time to improve schools and show students in lower socioeconomic statue areas that school is important teachers can do their job better because the curriculum is more interesting and up to date. Thanks for all of your insights, and I wish you the best!
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