"More Kids Than The Middle Schools..."

Had a pretty rough day today at work. My high-needs kiddo brought a razor blade to school. It's especially nerve-wracking because he just got done kicking Janae and throwing a book at me when I tried to intervene. Makes me wonder what he was planning to do with it...

So when I was trying to get it from him, I got a kick and a hit for my troubles. I finally got some help from the school psychologist but they didn't even send him home. Just a quick time-out in the office...and he was right back in my classroom.

I'm not so concerned for myself but what about the rest of my kiddos? I think to when I'll have Maelin in school: if there was a kiddo in her class that was consistently hurting other kids and was violent, what would I do? If the school refused to take any action towards him (ie: get him full-time para support, remove him from the classroom, etc.), I would be furious. I would be camped out in the superintendent's office demanding something be done...or there'd be legal action. Just like he has a right to a "free and appropriate public education", Maelin has a right to be safe in school.

I was just talking to one of the other teachers about this and she was apologizing for my awful year...too many kids, not enough materials, no support for the troubled kids, etc. She made a comment that our building currently has over 622 kids: that's more than both middle schools in our district. She thought our building was designed for no more than 450. Because they are cutting services and support every day, what is a classroom teacher left with?

Not much...except a child in my room who just threw his book across the room at another kid and tripped one and is now coming after me. With no one to call for help.

I ask you to think about that the next time you're tempted to criticize public school teachers.