Shut up and teach

I have this fantastic sister-in-law that recently retired after forty years of teaching in the Los Angeles school district. She holds a double Master's Degree in Education.  Her love of teaching is a great tribute to the world of helping our young strive for their goals.

She also holds great pride in being a successful mother as well as a teacher of forty years. Her son holds a Ph.D in organic chemistry, has had several papers published, and now works in the research lab at Princeton University.

What a retirement party that was held in my sister-in-law's honor. Many previous students from her past came to pay tribute to this great teacher. Many are professionals today. After years of teaching, before retirement, she became a "teacher's teacher", meaning she taught and monitored upcoming young teachers. At her retirement party they all agreed they were good teachers because of my sister-in-law.

OK, enough about my sister-in-law for a brief moment. Don't want her to get a big head. She phones her sister, my wife, about three times a week to give us the latest on her son at Princeton.

Here's my point in all this? With forty years of teaching experience, and now retired, my sister-in-law receives many requests to substitute-teach at public schools. Now my sister-in-law is a great teacher, that I love dearly and respect. 

However, she called the other day to tell us how hopeless and forlorn she was feeling about today's youths in school. She recounted her latest episodes in a public high school.

While taking roll call she called out a young girl's name, and there was no answer. She called out her name again, and someone from the back of the class yelled out, "she won't be here today....her water broke last night".  This brought an uproar of laughter from the whole room.
Before the class quieted down, someone else yelled out, "yeah, she won't be coming back anytime soon....she's gotta get to welfare....she don't know who the father is".

More laughter erupted, and at this point my sister-in-law closed her book, and asked a generic question to the class, "don't you want to learn here, get a good grade to help you get into college?"

One response she heard was, "ain't goin' to no college...gettin' food stamps, and goin' on Welfare like my parents are doin' now".  

Another response yelled out from the back of the classroom, "Mr. ***** from our Government class says rich fat cats got too much money anyway, and should be taxed more to take care of the rest of us".

When her day of substitute teaching was over my sister-in-law walked  into the Principal's office and said, "don't ask me back to substitute here anymore".   Which prompted the Principal to ask why, to which my sister-in-law answered:

"Tell your faculty of teachers to teach their subject matter, and ONLY their subject matter. Math, English, History, etc., has no room for the liberal political views of the teaching faculty to pass on to their students. Students will make up their own mind. And tell political science and government teachers to teach all sides of political views, not just their own personal liberal progressive views."

With that said, she vehemently walked out of the Principal's office. But just before she closed the door she offered, "When I went to school I didn't know, and I didn't care what political party my teacher was affiliated with....they just taught, which was enough for me".

In addition to loving and respecting my sister-in-law, she is now one of my heroes. If only more teachers followed her way of helping our youths to think for themselves and reach for their goals.

And that's Politics with Pete for today...God bless our country...and our troops