Cleopatra Block arrived at Englewood High School about three weeks ago from her family’s house in Mount Prospect to begin her career as a teacher in the Chicago Public Schools. Young, smart, and full of enthusiasm, she was a needed addition to our aging faculty. But here she was in a back corner of the faculty lounge, attempting to hide behind a row of lockers. Her freckled face was red and distorted by tears. Nearby, Margaret Dyer sat at her desk in stunned silence. Not even ten years of putting up with the whims of the Board of Education prepared her for this. At the other end of the room, Daphne Williams sorted aimlessly through the belongings on her desk. All three teachers had just been informed by our principal that their positions had been cut by the Board of Education.
We had worked hard to start the year off right this time. At Englewood the benefits of the reform movement were finally kicking in. Traditionally, Englewood got the students other area schools didn’t want. After Kenwood Academy, Hyde Park Academy, and Whitney Young Magnet High School skimmed off the best students, and King got the star athletes, we competed with Lindblom and DuSable high schools for the kids who remained.
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With reform and the advent of local school councils came an attempt to develop a better academic environment at the school. About three years ago we were designated as a member of the national Coalition of Essential Schools, a progressive organization centered around principles of education developed at Brown University. Last year we changed the name of the school to the Englewood Technical Preparatory Academy in recognition of our efforts to prepare students for work in specific fields. We also instituted an interdisciplinary Afrocentric curriculum. For the last year and a half, teachers have been meeting after school to learn new skills, coordinate curricula, and develop strategies for teaching. While conditions in the classroom were slow to change, the prospects for the new year looked bright.
It didn’t take long to find out. Over the long Columbus Day weekend, while the media were heralding a tentative agreement between the Board of Education and the Chicago Teachers Union, the board was busy calling teachers at home to cancel their positions. I got my call on Monday, October 11, at about four in the afternoon.
“Well then, you are the one I talked to. I have a position for you. You are to report to School X on Tuesday morning.”
There’s a legitimate debate regarding the value of vocational education in the urban community. Personally, I don’t believe that vocational education precludes the development of higher thinking skills. In fact, popular vocational courses like television or music production can lure reluctant teenagers into a scholastic environment. Many teenagers learn best when they are physically involved in what they are learning. At the snooty education conferences that Dr. Johnson attends, the old debate between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois may force her to side with Du Bois and his rejection of vocational education, but this is not the 19th century, and the leaders of tomorrow will be educated in both practical (read technological) and higher learning. And even if Johnson is right, the time to change philosophical direction is in June, not during the fifth week of school.
City and suburban teachers come from the same talent pool. Many city teachers live in the suburbs, and even the best suburban schools have teachers who actually live in the city. The blame for any inferiority in the Chicago system must rest on the institution itself. Teachers, just like their students, are educable. If they’re in a positive environment where they’re encouraged to develop their creativity, they will respond with exciting classes and inspired lessons. If they are shoved around in a system that cares more about contracts than education, they will soon care little about anything but their next paycheck.
