ON THE DAY THINGS CHANGED, Philadelphia public-school teachers reported to work, as they always do, in a workplace fraught with the most dangerous of all pitfalls: Hope.
In the wake of budget cuts, they report to work daily with the hope that the children will be settled; that hallways will be clean; that classrooms will be equipped with luxuries like paper and chalk.
But there is one more hope they carry with them constantly — the hope that they will have a normal day.
In a vote that was advertised at the last minute, in a room with a smattering of people, on a day that Mayor Michael Nutter said was not our finest moment, the state-controlled School Reform Commission took away yet another thing from teachers … They took their dignity.
On that day, hope was not realized because, for Philadelphia’s public school teachers, nothing is normal anymore.
In a vote that was advertised at the last minute, in a room with a smattering of people, on a day that Mayor Michael Nutter said was not our finest moment, the state-controlled School Reform Commission took away yet another thing from teachers.
The SRC, due to funding cuts, had already voted to take away counselors, janitors, nurses and supplies. But on Monday, in a nearly empty room, they took something far more valuable from Philadelphia’s public school teachers.
They took their dignity.
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Photo: Schools protest in Philadelphia, May 2013 (Solomon Jones)
Solomon Jones is an Essence bestselling author and award-winning columnist. He is the creator and editor of Solomonjones.com. Click here to learn more about Solomon
