Merit Matters

How many times is this going to happen, he questioned aloud? No one else was in his classroom, just him, as usual working on a Friday afternoon after everyone else in the public school had left to engage in weekend activities.
The administrators were always the first to disappear. “I have a meeting at the district office,” was the usual Friday fib. Nobody in the office to deal with the straggling high schoolers who liked to do flips off their skateboards in the quad or speak with parents who may want to drop by for a chat. Only the secretary, who took messages until 4:00 pm and was gone by 4:01 pm.

Tenured teachers were out the door with the students. Some, who had their conference time scheduled last period, left early, even though it was against the rules. Rules applied only to the untenured. Even the untenured teachers left on Fridays a few minutes after the bell rang.

But not him. He was the teacher who spent Friday afternoons calling parents to tell them how well their students were doing in his class. Sometimes parents asked, “Are you sure you’re calling the right parent?” because they were accustomed to only hearing from a teacher relating to an infraction.
He was the teacher who brought treats regularly for his students. Fruit and healthy snacks were something they liked because it wasn’t always available at home. Of course, chocolate was a favorite as were cookies. He did the best he could on a new teacher’s salary, making sure everyone had pens, pencils, paper available as well as sanitary wipes, disinfectant, and tissues; all the necessities the district didn’t supply. Then there were books for the classroom library. He spent evenings writing grants to purchase books his students would enjoy reading.

Discipline had always been a problem at the school, but not for him. He never sent miscreants to detention. Instead, he ate lunch with them, talking about how to improve their conduct.
One a month he had pizza brought to the school for his students who had earned enough positive behavior points to attend the after-school party. Almost all succeeded.

The Star Wars Club he started was a real success. The students who didn’t quite “fit” in on campus activities or sports had a place to go, thanks to him. It was a bit geeky, but it was what they needed.
If a teacher was required to fill-in for lunch duty, he was always asked because he wouldn’t say no. If a teacher was needed to man detention after school, he was asked, because he would comply without an argument.
Parents sent complimentary notes to the principal and the district superintendent praising him. They would attend parent meetings, Back-to-School night, and Open House, just to visit with him. He was that engaging. He cared about kids.

Yet every March, known as Pink Slip Month in the education world, he was the teacher who received the dreaded note in his mailbox. Since he was hired, the district had delayed tenure for new teachers. He had worked their five years and every March he was technically “fired.” He didn’t receive the “You’ve been rehired” notice until August. No insurance for the summer.
“Merit Matters “was the district’s laughable motto.

— Mugsy