School Vandalism

Over Thanksgiving weekend, 11 classrooms at my school were broken into. As I was cleaning up splattered paint, strewn papers and the water from my emergency kit, it seemed too familiar. In the eight years I have worked at Valerio Street School my classroom has been broken into five times. If this was someone’s home would it be tolerated? Besides home, school is where children spend most of their time. How should they feel if their classroom is violated? It makes me feel very angry. There are so many things that are making teachers angry these days. Burglaries are just another straw on the back of overburdened teachers.

At one time I worked after school helping students across the crosswalk. I also encouraged parents not to stop in the middle of the street, push their car doors open and yell for their kids to run into the street. At least weekly, I would be given the middle finger by parents, even told to “F------ mind my own business.” Even after a fatal accident, this is still a struggle. Why can’t parents pull over to pick up their kids?

Finally, in all my years of teaching, not more than four parents have actually thanked me for their child’s education. It is so important to be acknowledged. A little appreciation goes a long way. Teachers might feel better about the extra things we do, the extra money we spend, the special things that make a classroom feel like a second home, if once in a while someone said, “Thank you.”

SUSAN WARD, Canoga Park