An Effort In Futility

I should be packing and preparing for a trip right now, but I feel I need to get this off my chest.  Last night I made my first appearance on the SFUSD Board of Education meeting.  Turns out, to my delight, that they taped it!  So, please take a visit to see the two minutes (my and Katey's part) in front of the board, two minutes out of a 4 hour and 30 minute meeting, where we had the opportunity to plead for the state of our school and our student's future.  I start talking around 2 hours and 45 minutes, but if you go before that, you'll see a bunch of other teachers, parents, and students from the Bay View who are also pleading the same case that Katey and I were there to make.

http://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=47&clip_id=11838

The agenda covered a lot of GREAT things that are happening in SFUSD, truly.  But what greatly disappointed me was the enormously disproportioned ratio of time that was spent hearing about the wonderful things that were happening, and how very, very little we were allotted to plead the case of the injustices that are taking place in the exact same district.  I mean, who wouldn't want to hear the great things over the bad?  It's a lot easier, because we can all pat ourselves on our backs and feel that we're making a difference.  But the bad - that's going to take work to address and figure out how to overcome.  Ugh, not something we like to hear.

But, when you consider the fact that two of the agenda items that were discussed prior to getting my chance to talk were 1) discussing the results of investigations that have been taking place in the district regarding students who are attending GREAT schools in the district who have falsified their addresses in order to go there and 2) discussing the renewal of a fantastic continuation school in the county jail... it causes me to question.  These are two items that were the district to focus more efforts heeding the cases of the terrible things that are happening in the district, wouldn't it make the need to discuss items 1 and 2 noted above effectively...moot?

I really do need to start packing, but I think now, more than ever, I feel that regardless of how much I want to improve the situation for my students, it feels like an effort in futility - since I'm working against a system that evidently cares more about covering their own hides and ensuring their own futures rather than looking out for the futures over those whom they preside.  I'm being rushed off the stage, given a one minute timer to plead the case for my failing school and the desperately needy students it attempts to provide for, while the students from highly desired SOTA are given 15 minutes to share their successful mural project and the amazing accompanied video that documents their brilliant success.  Maybe next time I just need to document everything...