The public school that I taught at in Colorado Springs was a high-risk school. Most of the students were on free or reduced lunch, had only one parent, moved or were evicted often, had a parent in jail, a lot of kids had never met their dads. Only 4 parents out of a school of 600 were involved in the PTA, many parents never attended parent/teacher conferences or had no idea what their lids were doing or learning. I attended funeral of a parent of one of my first graders every year. My last year at that school I had 21 out of 23 students on Individualized Learning Plans (meaning they flunked the beginning of the year first grade test). My kids liked school and liked me because I never yelled at them or hit them, I gave them attention, showed that I cared and never was drunk. School was where they felt safe and loved.
For the most part we had two kinds of teachers: There were new ones who were just trying to get their foot in the door so they could work their way “up” to a more affluent and “easier” school. Then there were the experienced teachers who could have worked elsewhere but chose to stay where they really mattered. I made more as a public school teacher and most of the teachers that I worked with were better educated and trained. The common traits of the teachers that I’ve worked with in both public and Catholic schools are that they all work hard, are professional and care very much about their students. In each school there have been one or two who didn’t put forth quite as much effort as the rest. All teachers that I’ve known put in extra hours beyond what they are paid; anywhere from 125% to 200%. The Catholic school that I teach at has class sizes of up to 30 whenever possible. More students mean more money. The public school that I taught at had classes from 21 to 27.
Although I now work in a Catholic school, I feel that I was doing God’s work more-so as a high-risk public school teacher.
