Why I quit NYC Teaching Fellows. (12/06)


I can put up with a lot of things.

I can put up with five teachers sharing one classroom.
I can put up with students cussing, disrespecting and hating me…I do not tolerate it but that is not a reason for me to quit.
I can put up with the principal giving me 10 bilingual classes when I do not speak a word of Spanish.
I can put up with the principal trying to give me a schedule with no breaks, which completely illegal so I got my union involved.
I can put up with doing coverages for other teachers on a daily basis but not knowing what or who I am teaching until five minutes before the class begins. Not once has a teacher thought to leave a lesson plan for the sub. Not once.
I can put up with teachers quitting on weekly basis.
I can put up with the scary stories of the school’s recent past:
Principals don’t just leave…they leave on stretchers.
One angry parent beat up a principal so bad he is now permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Another principal has brain damage because a student threw a chair at her head that spit her head wide open. Four principals in one year. Police escorts from the school to the subway for teachers and staff. Tires slashed, windows bashed. The gangs were running the school and my school was in the middle of a gang war zone.

Yes, now there are different students, but it’s the same parents, same older siblings, same gang area.

However, hearing about these violent events that took place less than three years ago still did not scare me away.

I was informed on Friday that the soil behind the school is toxic. A lot of teachers and students are sick. Two teachers have had miscarriages, and these toxins have been linked to miscarriages in animals. I don’t even want to think about what other health issues these toxins can or have caused. The construction company digging up the soil said it was fine, yes the soil is toxic but it does not affect the schools. But that shit is in the air, you can taste it on your tongue. In one of my classes yesterday the wind shifted and blew the soil and dust right in.

I informed the Fellows to see if I could be pulled out but it’s a process because I need proof which can take up to a couple of months. All the while I am breathing and working in an unsafe environment? This breaks my heart because I have the ability to leave but the students do not. We are working on getting their parents informed though.

I can and have put up with a lot of crap with this school but I need to draw the line somewhere.

So, I am done. I am not sure what my next step is, I am broke, jobless and living in NYC. However, I’ve had it worse and I always manage to land on my feet. Just keep me in your prayers and send happy thoughts, phone-calls and e-mails my way! I miss talking to everyone!