Insidious Racism of Low Expectations

I can't fall asleep.  My mind is racing, thinking about my students, almost all of whom are students of color with many risk factors for difficulty in school and in life.  I love being a bilingual speech-language pathologist in a diverse, urban district.  But sometimes it keeps me up at night.

In our district, we've been asked to think a lot about racial equity.  The superintendent has made it clear that she is not looking for racist teachers (I have never met one yet), but racist practice and policies.  Now that I work in high school, I can see the effect of years of the racism of low expectations.  I can say that this racism of low expectations cuts across all racial groups, because I can make excuses for just about anyone (White and uneducated?  Sad!  Asian from a refugee camp?  Hard!  Single black mom with 4 kids and 2 jobs?  Poor thing!)  And I've come to the conclusion that the problem lies more with the low expectations that I have of PARENTS than of students.

We teachers love our students.  We try to inspire.  We try to get them to like us (at least a little!).  We cajole, reteach, remind, threaten, and perform…all so that our kids learn content, responsibility and pride.  We try to set high expectations--or at least medium expectations--for our students.  And some kids just don't do the work.  They don't show up for class.  They are on their phones or sleeping during class.  Then parents don't show up for conferences.  And all 4 phone numbers are disconnected when we call.  So we stop trying to call.  And then parents come to an IEP meeting and by that time, teachers don't show up the meeting because they already feel like it doesn't matter….  And our lack of a relationship with the parent leads to the student getting away with doing almost nothing.  (If you call failing classes and not learning content, responsibility and pride "getting away" with something.)  It is time for parents and teachers to hold each other accountable.  In order to do this, we have to start making REAL relationships, speaking our truths, and giving teachers/parents/students the tools they need to be successful.

My new mantra is this:  It is my job and the job of your teachers to give you work you CAN do; it is your job and the job of your parents to DO it.

What does this mean?
--Parents, while I appreciate your flattery (Oh, teacher, you are so smart.  You care so much about my child.  I know you are doing the best you can.  I appreciate everything you do...), I no longer should let that Savior flattery cloud the fact that you are flattering me to abdicate your own responsibility (…I can't help with school because I didn't graduate myself, I don't speak English, I had a bad experience at school, I work 2 jobs).  Now, before you think horrible thoughts about me, hear me out.  Homework should be doable at an independent level for all students.  Teachers MUST be sure that they have given work that students CAN do.  Parents should hold us accountable to that.  But we need to start expecting parents to make sure that their kids do their homework.  If they feel that the homework is too hard, they need to call us.  We will make further modifications if needed.  If not, then there should be home and school consequences.   Providing expectations of work completion, and actually checking to make sure work is done is not too much to ask.

--Let's say it's a student that said: "Thank you for helping me, Ms. Awesome Teacher.  I can only understand things when YOU explain them.  But I didn't do my (modified) History assignment because it's too hard.  I have a learning disability, you know."  What would we say to that student?  If we would swoop in and rescue them, THAT is lowering expectations.  What we need to say is: "Yes, I know you have a learning disability.  That means you have to work harder than other kids, but you can do anything they can do.  I have modified this assignment so that you CAN do it.  It's your job to DO it."  And then call home to let the parent know that you have already made sure that the work is doable independently at home, maybe discuss ways to build confidence by talking about strengths, and then asking the parent to provide a quiet place to study (or allow them to go to the public library) and to check to be sure the work is done.

--We need to be sure that kids CAN do the work we assign.  If students can't decode, do they have an audio version of the text?  If kids have low language skills, do we have an adapted text for them?  Does that adapted text also have an audio version?  Are we making sure that there are many visual supports to our lessons (and we aren't just lecturing? Spraying-and-praying? Talking-not-teaching)? Do parents have internet access and do they check their child's grades/missing work?  Are parents aware when their child is not in class and have they been told about the specific impacts of interrupted schooling due to absences?  Is there a way to have families "earn" paid high-speed internet access by showing that they are checking the Parent Portal?  It would be a great investment (Superintendent? Mayor?) for parents to be our accountability partners; it could also provide the means for students to receive alternative content or show what they know in alternate ways.  Are parents willing to do the hard thing (take away video game systems, stop paying for cell phones, assign chores, etc) if school work isn't done?  Do parents know their kids' strengths?  Do we try hard to build positive, lasting, real and equal relationships with parents?  Are we working together?

I'm sure there are plenty of institutionalized policies in our schools that cause racial inequity.  This is the one that is keeping me up.  It's almost 2:00am and I get up at 5:30am to get ready for school.  I hope now that I got all of that out, I will be able to sleep.  For three hours.  Yikes.

Snow Day! Strike Averted! Are We a Related Service or What?!

This winter has been extreme, even by Minnesota standards.  School has been cancelled 3 times because of temperatures of -30 degrees, and now a blizzard.

The Saint Paul Federation of Teachers (the union that represents me and all of my colleagues) has reached a tentative agreement with the Superintendent and School Board after 9 months of negotiations and teachers working without a contract since July 2013.  Whew!  We were poised to strike, which was scary.  SPFT was the very first teachers union in the US to ever strike.  We've done it before, and we would have done it again.

Now, on to the speech-language stuff.  I love to read and listen to the experts in our field with regard to adolescents with speech and language disorders.  It makes me inspired to do so much more for my kids.  I mean, if you have a disorder (-2 SD in Minnesota) in language, that means you are REALLY REALLY bad at listening, speaking, reading and writing.  And yet, I'm supposed to make a significant difference 30-60 minutes per week.  Our Aunties (Ehren, Reed, Nippold, McKinley, etc) advocate for more intense service--a credit bearing class.  This is fraught with logistical nightmares, but I am not afraid of those.  I wonder if every day service can be justified.  How do I establish a "need" when kids have never had the opportunity to have a Language Strategies class?  It may bump many of my students into a higher federal setting, which is frowned upon.  But, again, if it's successful, both parents and students would want it...

ZOINKS!  VOILA!  An Idea: I could take a look and see how many of my students have D's or N's in content areas (especially social studies and science because many already get support in reading and math)…  If they do better in those classes after having my class, it can build the case for a need.  Hmmm… OK, I'm on to something.  Stay tuned.  This plan is so crazy, it just might work.