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But teachers can't suspend that many students. This is what many posters describe as putting up with societal ills. They get the blame because they "allow" this behavior. This behavior stems drom the hhome, which is beyond their control.
A quibble: teachers don't suspend any student. That's an administrator function.
A quibble: teachers don't suspend any student. That's an administrator function.
Some schools/districts allow this. A former district I worked in allowed me to snap suspend students for one day.
I did it twice (6th graders) - when a student shoved me into a locker and broke my wrist (his suspension was extended by administration) and the other was a student who repeatedly threatened to kill me and admin would only give her a 15 minute time out. She was mentally unstable and dangerous. She cut herself. She needed REAL help and the district never did anything for her or anyone else. I left teaching after one year at that district.
There is a difference between having a bad class and having a bad school/district/admin. I've had both.
A bad class is difficult to manage, but it is not totally out of control. Admin and other teachers support you and you come up with plans for the really rough days. Most bad classes have a few instigators. Come up with a plan for them and you can survive the year. (I had a quartet one year that would get the whole class out of control. When they had a particularly bad day, they were split among between a few other teachers for a while.)
The school I mention above was a bad school. The principal hid in her office, had no control of anything, and the students knew it. Discipline didn't have to. They tried to do things like after school detention or Saturday school, but kids didn't go. They can't suspend 2/3 of a class, so kids never went. The kids knew there weren't consequences for anything.
Maybe there needs to be more investment in alternative schools? Isn't that whrre all the really disruptive kids eventually get sent?
Maybe. It depends on the school system. Some systems don't have an alternative school, others do but there's what amounts to a waiting list to place a student (my former system was like that), others do out placement.
But many out placement facilities have closed over the last 20 years with the change in philosophy of keeping kids "in-house" and in any event can run up to $300000/year per kid depending on the program. Three kids in out placement and you've just spent almost a million dollars in unreimbursed funds. It doesn't take too many of those to crash your budget.
Maybe. It depends on the school system. Some systems don't have an alternative school, others do but there's what amounts to a waiting list to place a student (my former system was like that), others do out placement.
But many out placement facilities have closed over the last 20 years with the change in philosophy of keeping kids "in-house" and in any event can run up to $300000/year per kid depending on the program. Three kids in out placement and you've just spent almost a million dollars in unreimbursed funds. It doesn't take too many of those to crash your budget.
My daughter teaches in an elementary school like that. Nearly all of the students are disruptive/disrespectful at times, especially the older ones. She once called and said she had a great day, she only had to send four kids to the office for discipline all day and none of the kids hit her or threatened her. There is no way to fix these schools and no way to control the classroom. If they are gong to get beaten, starved, ignored, or worse at night, why would the kids care what the teacher says/does?
It is a bad situation for a teacher to get into because teachers go into teaching to help kids, to make a difference. At these schools it is almost impossible. If you somehow slug it out for ten years or more, you may eventually find a couple of students you can reach and help - maybe. Who can do that?
Much higher FRL but everything else to the T for both classes.
I sometimes wonder if it would be worth it to move into a Title 1 school. I don't think our Title 1 schools are "that bad" (phetaroi might have some input on that) and if I'm going to deal with these behaviors with 30 in a class I may as well deal with them and have 19 in a class with support staff.
I know...the grass is always greener...
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