But for the grace of God

I've been thinking about the third grader who was found hanging by his collar in a coat closet at Samuel W. Pennypacker School. A nine-year-old boy goes to hang up his coat and the teacher finds him. This kind of thing is a tragedy and could happen in any teacher's classroom in the city. It could happen to any of our students at any second of the day. It could happen on my rookie watch or the most experienced teacher's. Just the luck of the draw and a damn shame for a lot of reasons. There go I, but for the grace of God. Any random act from a student could result in loss of licensure for the teacher. Just like that, because we hold court over a powderkeg. Any spark or bump could cause an explosion.

Paul Vallas wants the schools to be safe, something like an 80% safe number by 2008. The lunchrooms, bathrooms, stairwells, lobbies, and hallways have been found to be unsafe in our schools. Hmm. Guess who is making them unsafe? If you guessed the kids press the enter button for your free cigar. The kids beat the other kids up. The kids do crazy stuff like hang over railings, throw objects from windows and stair towers, and things I don't even want to think about. Things I'm to scared to even contemplate.

I'm not sure what happened to that poor boy and I hope he is restored to health. I hope that poor teacher gets through all the nonsense that will transpire because of this unfortunate event. Mr. Vallas needs to get more of something from our kids because they are the ones that make this school district a living nightmare. The kids are the root of much of what happens here. If the kids want things to be safe then things will be safe. To view things any other way is to just invite laughter and defeat.