Ramblings about Failing School..... Part XI

At my school, we are told WE are failing. We are far into "program improvement", which of course, has no requirements for the students or their families to make the least bit of effort to take advantage of the many extra, expensive services being offered to low scoring test takers we are habitually sent by our feeder schools.

Question: Is it less expensive to retain a student at a lower level rather than socially promote them to a place where they will academically fail (because of poor math and reading ability), and offer said failing student many expensive after-school programs ?

Mrs. Polski3 subs at a local elementary school. She often says they have "great" snacks for teachers during breaks. The teachers at this school have a regular celebration of staff birthdays. As many of them as can get into the lounge eat together at lunch. They seem to work together. This sure isn't my school. Oh, this elementary school is one of the top grade schools in our county. On the other hand, at my school, we had inservice day yesterday. I asked several people about getting a group together for lunch. No one was interested. Several said they were going to their classrooms to work on grades. ( Note: Our semester grades were due and we are never granted "school" time to deal with them. IF fact, if you look at our calendar, you would see that anytime grades were due, there would be mandatory meetings for teachers to attend.) On "regular" days, our school has two lunches, which we'll just call "first lunch" and "second lunch". For first lunch, no one eats in our tiny teachers lounge. They eat in their classrooms or a few, "cluster" with others of their same ethnicity. On "second lunch", the tiny lounge is usually full; all eight or nine chairs crammed around two old folding tables are full. Both microwaves are used. I don't know where the other ten or so teachers are. Classified staff NEVER eat with the teachers in the lounge. Many of them eat at the table in the workroom (which seats seven). The workroom also has a microwave oven and a refrigerator, in addition to two duplo and one small photocopy machines.

I recently attended the National Council for Social Studies National Convention. I made up copies of many of the "neat" things I got and ideas I encountered there, and handed them out to the other social studies teachers at my school. Not one of them told me thanks or that they appreciated the materials or effort to get it to them.

Failing School v. Top School. Wonder why in part, we are a failing school. Are there other middle schools/junior high schools similar to mine ? No respect for the teachers, poor facilities for teacher use, lack of cooperation, teachers not talking to each other.....????

Thanks for putting up with this rambling. Comments are hoped for.....