Oops....

I just made a major mistake.  We're talking huge.  Career changing. 

Good news?  I received an offer to teach at a Chicago Public School on the south side in Englewood.  Bad news?   I technically can't teach it. 

To be honest,  I wasn't actually planning on taking the job, but the pros definitely outweighed the cons.  Especially given the fact that I had been coming home in tears from work almost every single night.  So I took the job, assuming that getting paperwork together would be a piece of cake - I already had a job, right?  I shouldn't be able to teach in my current school without all of the required elements by the state of Illinois, right?  Wrong.  Dead wrong.

 I figured out yesterday that the certification that I have in the state of Illinois is only valid for me to teach high school Reading.  That's it.  Nothing else (may explain why I wasn't getting callbacks when looking for jobs).  So technically, I wasn't even certified to teach the job I was in.  That's the screw up.  I went for a year and a half without actually looking at my certification to figure out what it was that I could teach and how I needed to fix it.  I'm not that person; I am usually right on top of this stuff.  I honestly thought that because I was teaching Junior High that everything had to be okay because of state regulations.  But wait, charter's get to play by a different set of rules than the rest of the kids, so it didn't matter.  You don't have to be certified in the area you teach to get a job at a charter - heck, you don't have to even be fully certified! 

Needless to say, I do not have the correct endorsements to teach the job that I was offered.  Forget about the fact that I've been teaching the EXACT SAME THING for the past 5 years, or that I have an undergrad AND master's in this area.  The red tape is not in place to make me "legal."  It was a bit of a frustrating day.  When my pants caught on a nail and ripped right up the back first thing yesterday morning (not kidding, this really happened), it should have been a tip that the day was going to end badly. 

What's the solution?  Well, I have applied for the Middle Grade Language Arts Endorsement, praying that I have the correct classes I need to add get this fixed quickly and easily.  If that doesn't work then I need to take one more class . . . FAST.  OR my principal changes the position to Reading, I take a test on 10th and all is well.  I simply cannot believe that I let this certification lapse as much as I have.  Not to mention the fact that it is EXPENSIVE to get certified!!  The test is nearly $100, and the endorsement + application fees are also $100, and that's only for ONE subject area.  In Michigan and Arizona I can teach any English or Language Arts from 6th - 12th grade on one teaching certificate.  I can also teach Reading KINDERGARTEN - 12th grade on one certificate.  But here, each different group of grades requires a test and an endorsement.  I'm not sure if they're using this to weed out teachers, or just as a revenue, but it's pretty ridiculous.  I kind of feel like Chicago politics has leaked over into the entire state in this situation.  Michigan is one of the toughest states to be certified in and I flew through that.  Now I'm stuck here like a sitting duck, trying to figure out a plan of action.  Needless to say there's been a lot of praying, trusting and faith-testing going on in the last couple days. 

Finally. Someone is starting to figure it out.

I have spent my entire teaching career working in urban schools with children who are disadvantaged and deal with incomprehensible home lives.  Many of these children are riddled with behavior issues and learning problems that I have always believed directly linked to the stresses that they face on a daily base.  Due to this, my goal has consistently been to make my classroom as safe and secure as I possibly can.  True, I may not be the epitome of a nurturing-motherly-type-elementary school teacher (possibly because I work with middle schoolers, not 8 year olds), but I have always wanted my kids to feel safe, cared for and appreciated in my class.  I have always striven to make my room somewhere that they can come and leave the stress of life behind.  Somewhere that they always knew exactly what was expected of them both academically and socially.  I (and my co-workers) have always known that because of the students' home lives they bring issues into our classroom that often affect their learning and performance, which would not be an issue in a different demographic.

However, we choose to come to school every single day hoping that we can make a small difference.  We work 12 - 14 hour days hoping that we will be able to get through to these kids.  We try to include character development into our classrooms as much as possible, but due to rigorous standardized testing our time is cut short.  We want to help get these kids professional help if needed, but due to budge cuts there is not a counselor or psychologist in sight.  We attempt to work with the parents, however they are usually working 2 - 3 jobs simply to keep electricity turned on and food on the table.  We want to give them other reasons to come to school than purely academics by advocating for more specials where they can learn about things that interest them, but again money and time is short due to federal funding.  It seems as if we are constantly fighting an uphill battle, however, we continue to fight viciously hoping that someone will someday take notice.

I think someone finally did.  Ira Glass aired a program about all of these issues that brought to light a conversation regarding urban schools which people have been avoiding for decades.  Teachers are typically blamed for low test scores and failing conditions in low-income schools, and when we bring up the other factors that we are dealing with, we are told to stop complaining and just do our jobs.  Instead of acknowledging the fact that these factors due exist and are desperately hurting our children, they are pushed aside.  Instead of recognizing the problem and beginning to form solutions, deaf ears are given and heads look the other way.  I know this is simply one interview, one small program, but at least the topic is being discussed.  At least the issue is being researched and looked at by people other than teachers.  Thank you Ira Glass, for taking the time to put this program together.  Thank you for bringing to light situations we have been fighting against for years.  Please take a moment and read this or listen to it.  It is very much worth your time. 

Back to School:  This American Life