As I write this, my students are being subjected to the yearly state tests. They are taking the reading portion, which I can't read or modify in any way for them. They are required to take the 6th grade test, even though most of them read at the 3rd or 4th grade level. We take two tests a day, and yesterday we took so long that the kids had to eat their lunch in my room because we hadn't finished. These tests are all sorts of unfair... and the worst part is that this test determines so very much for my school. This single series of tests determines our school's status in terms of AYP for the No Child Left Behind Act. We are already on the "list" because not enough of our special education students were able to pass the test. The stakes just keep getting higher and the state keeps cutting the funds that we need to teach. It is a vicious cycle that is doing NOTHING to improve our education system. As a teacher, there is nothing I can do about it. That is the hardest part of all of this.
On top of all of this, my district is making drastic cuts in our staff for next year. Several of my colleagues have been cut to part time and several others have been cut completely. Many of these individuals had NO idea that they would be losing their positions in the fall. A few of them are even tenured at the START OF THE NEXT YEAR. I am so sad for our school. We were once a great place to work with lots of great people who worked here because they loved what they did and had pride in our school. I fear that this is the final straw and many of us will start working just to our contract and do nothing more. There is even talk that they will be cutting all of the extracurricular activities next year. What a sad state we are in. My assistant who has been with the district for SEVEN years, was just told that she will not have a position for the fall. No one can tell me what this means for my program. It will be VERY difficult for me to meet the needs of my students without an assistant. I don't know if I will have an assistant or not at this point. Only individuals have been told at this point, so nobody knows the big picture. All we have are the hallway conversation we all seem to have trying to figure things out. There is a great deal of stress and unrest in the building right now.
So I can't even really lose myself at work right now. I am still VERY raw about our negative last month. The tears are now farther inbetween. The last few days have been tough... lots of tears. I think I am getting over it, but then I realize I am far from being over it. We did decide to take a big splurge and spend Spring Break in St Lucia. We are both really looking forward to it. It will be nice to have a week away from the rest of the world. Hoping that we will have a week not thinking about it.
Need to get back to my class... it has taken me all day to write this post. :) The kids are now getting very antsy... and I can't blame them!
