Labor division
Is never equitable
Where kids are involved
Category: Education
The typing of keys
The rustling of paper notes
Soft murmured questions
Intensity’s high
When students are writing
Snow brings the trouble
The kids smell change in the air
Their noses upturned
Minds whirring with plots
It begins innocently
A white rush of air
A splash of cold snow
Suddenly, it’s a frenzy
Mounds crisscross the yard
Showering the kids
All with red noses and smiles
Hands cold and frozen
Rejoicing in the weather
Until the adults swarm in
To end the melee
Please, make no mistake
New laws that attack our schools
Are not “for the parents.
That’s propaganda
Parents are often
Invited into the class
Lessons are often
Already online.
No. These laws show lawmakers
Who they can target
Thinly veiled attempts
To root out the teachers who
Teach real history
Because you see friends…
Education is power
Education is change
Education is discussion
Education is critical thinking.
Being educated
Shouldn’t be easy.
Education is a reckoning
And that should feel uncomfortable.
Categories
Unintended consequences?
The consequences
Of the pandemic
Will be hard to count…
However, it’s clear
That the main victims are kids
They are in shambles
First, online schooling
Then, rolling quarantines and
Sick family members
We’ve expected them
To be strong. Meanwhile adults
Kept failing the kids.
Don’t @ me on this
I know we’ve all done our best
Closing school was right.
Here is my real point
We’ve asked our kids to adapt
While leaving no tools
In their school toolbox
They are alone in the wild
Because schools didn’t adjust
To the trauma of the kids
States are banning books
900,000 are dead
Now, the GOP
Have, of course, declared
Events of January 6
“Legitimate discourse”
2024
Is barreling fast toward us
A darkness is brewing
A darkness is brewing
Twelve of twenty-five
Students absent in my class
It’s not a mask thing
They all have COVID
It’s spreading so quickly that
I see in real time
The sickness take hold
And worsen over the day
The worst part of this
Is that so many don’t care
But kids are suffering
Categories
Systemic Cycles
You may not know this.
But…in 1931,
The US started
Deporting citizens.
American citizens
Were rounded up and shipped out
It seems crazy right?
I’m talking about
People of Hispanic descent
Most had been born here
Why did this happen?
I’m so very glad you asked
The reason is bad…
The Great Depression happened
The US decided
To stop caring for citizens
Of certain origin
History matters.
Those who want to hide history
Want to make damn sure
It’s repeatable.
Don’t fall for the rhetoric
Teach real history.
You know what’s wild?
When a lack of mitigation
Leads to a case rise.
It’s almost as though
We could have seen it coming
Oh wait…we did see.
Instead choosing to do nothing
And now cases rise.
One quarter absent
Yesterday at my school
What do I do with that?
Teachers are so so tired
Because…we told you so.
Is not because of teachers
It’s becoming clear
That the teaching profession
Is in some trouble
Put very simply
There are not enough teachers
To man the classrooms
Conservatives say
This is a teacher problem
That “we” are too “soft”
This is not the case
The profession of teaching
Is treated poorly
Teachers have low pay
Combined with high education
Our hours are long
Our work is not just hard
It can also be dangerous
Not only covid
But we have angry students
We have poor buildings
On top of threats of shootings
And high expectations
We are not babysitters
We are professionals with
Very high expertise
And we are also
Often treated like shit from admin
And the public.
It’s not hard to see
Why teachers are leaving quick
With none in the wings.
So, don’t act as though
You’re suddenly surprised when
Your kids’ teacher quits.
Hipstory 