Schools are going to blame Poor grades, attendance & effort on black families. It is a lie.

*folds arms* Y’all know I’m NOT lying either. *duckface* This entire remote/online/virtual learning experience is wack AF. Like for real, FOR REAL. It is waaaaack. Look, ya boi is a former teacher so I know what the grind is like for teachers on a regular basis. NOW?! During a pandemic? These sky high unemployment rates?! Maaaaaaaan…. I’m NOT blaming teachers for everything. I’m not blaming teachers for most of it but the actual DISTRICTS are leaving teachers hanging in the court of public opinion and the jury is parents. Yoo… this stuff is NOT going well, going smooth or getting better. It is worse than the Spring semester when schools first closed because there is so much more work. There are so many more options, websites, alternatives, assignments, videos, links, freaking EMAILS and then the crap has the nerve to either not work OR isn’t “updated”. This thing is hot mess, steaming garbage, boiling funk. *pinches nose*

It is bad now and looks evil when you really consider the implications on Black and Brown kids. Black and Brown kids are behind now in education. You know they’ll only get further behind during a pandemic. Black and Brown kids didn’t relate to the lesson plans and delivery of teachers in regular courses. Now? Forced/demanded to learn the theories, mechanisms, workings, histories and expectations of a country hurting your culture? It was a problem sitting in the classroom, teachers ignorant of your culture, language and pushing you to accept their culture, language as the superior or dominant. Nope, I’m sure that teachers don’t think they’re doing that but it’s exactly what the majority do. From our hairstyles, to “sagging”, to music, to tattoos, to “ebonics” and back to religion, Black and Brown kids go to school and are expected to learn “how to act white”. *makes weird voice* I’m getting further into that rabbit hole of a true distraction. *hands up in surrender* Everything I’m talking about, relating to teachers, theories, workings, culture, language is the gap between students and teachers. It is the reason Black and Brown kids will get further behind in a system that they aren’t sincerely expected to catch up. *taps forehead* The power of social media is proving the hard fear in minority communities, police don’t like us and will kill us for several reasons without any punishment. (I have a whole post on this subject that includes historical references. Peonage.) *looks around for haters and snitches* Black and Brown parents feel the exact same way about teachers and schools. We have bad experiences with a process that forced us to to spend 8hrs/day, 40hrs/week, learning how to speak, dress, move and desire the life of white people. Not as an alternative or option but as the only way to succeed. Accept the business attire, tie, shoes, blazer or skip the job and loan. Accept the crazy college loans and debt or skip the career. Entrepreneurship for us is frowned on, music, sports, entertainment, cooking. We don’t get to learn these in school unless it’s a special program or we’re making money for the school. We’re told to give those dreams up and chase the dreams of doctor, lawyer, teacher, officer. *sigh* I’m done. I gotta move on but I reserve the right to visit this conversation later.

Programs/Services are JACKED UP!

Our district uses Clever and Canvass. Neither is good. *yuck face*

I’m serious. Neither of these is consistent or good. Both crash at least 3x/week. Both have 1-2days where the pages never open. Sure, it eventually starts like hours later buuuuut…. these are kids looking for work and the stop/start is awful. They have to constantly check for past assignments, that never worked right LAST week, but now, it’s late. *rubs temple* Every single morning, we start with the classes that have missing work or failing grades because it rare that everything worked the day before. Every single morning, my inbox is jumped and beaten up with school emails on missing work, failing work, absent work and it’s 90% a technical error. Do you have any idea how hard it is to enforce something that doesn’t work?! I’m struggling to help with the assignments and it’s always something late. I fuss about it and come to find out, it is another computer error, Zoom wasn’t clear video, link doesn’t work… My kids never felt connected to the learning. They did it because it is expected but when the shit ain’t even working….

Teacher Bias/Prejudice

Okay. I admit to going off on this earlier. There is a definite disconnect between students and teachers in this country. It lies in racism, economics and culture. To be honest, it is on teachers to bridge the gap and parents to back it up but it’s kinda hard to do stuff when teachers and parents don’t relate or trust each other.

Over 80% of teachers are white women from middle class neighborhoods. They had great experiences, in school, with other white folks. They knew some minorities but grew up really thinking that schools are some kind of positive, fair atmosphere and people that struggle with it are to blame. Meanwhile, they re-enter the education system and discover over 50% of students are NOT like them at all. The majority of American school children are minorities now. The majority of American school children are economically disadvantaged. Daaaawg… This is the culture gap, the chasm between teaching and “managing” a group of students. Example: Mrs. Karen has 100 kids during this pandemic and needs to check on them constantly because kids aren’t working the same from home. She is white. 45 of her kids are white and 55 are “other”. I’m telling you, she saves the 55 for last. Sure, a few get calls because those few play the role with dress, language, etc. but not the majority. Some, Mrs. Karen figures don’t speak the King’s English so she skips those. Some; well, the kid barely logs in and parents don’t respond soooo, skip those. Some, she doesn’t feel like all that explaining because that kid always has questions, talks too much, house looks different, people in background or *gasp* she looks like she doesn’t care. Most of those kids, the ones she doesn’t call, are Black or Brown and getting further behind. She expects less, they do less. She connects less, they do less. She’s tired, they do less.

Mrs. Karen has legit excuses to shortchange kids’ learning. She is tired. The kids don’t look like her. Pandemic raging. District isn’t helping. All the while, her workload is increasing. She is teaching in-class students and chasing down remote assignments and trying to increase her tech acumen… But guess who really suffering? The Black and Brown kids under her guidance. Now, there are definitely Black and Brown teachers doing the exact, same, negative stuff as Mrs. Karen but it’s waaaaaay less of them. As for the teachers doing the RIGHT things…

Where Am I Going With This?

That if the numbers are this ugly before the pandemic? What in the hell gives anyone belief that we’ll come out stronger? Me? I’ve written about the desire to pull my kids out and homeschool. I didn’t because as a former teacher, I have known AMAZING teachers that see all of this crap as a challenge. They research outside-the-box ideas to build rapport with students before stamping expectations and pushing hidden agendas, outlandish demands. My kids don’t have those teachers this year. High school to middle school to elementary, I’m NOT seeing that glow in their eyes over Zoom and Google classroom. I’m NOT reading it in their generic emails giving me an umpteenth time to have to my kids complete some wack assignment.

I can do this shit my damn self. Who interested in rocking with me because I’m changing the game soon as the grading period confirms this post.

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