Lists | [no subject] : ARN-L : MONTH YEAR

One of the things the gangs wanted to do was establish and keep hegemony in=
 the schools they controlled. At both Amundsen and Bowen, it was the "Peopl=
e" who controlled the schools, based in part of overt or covert deals with =
administrators (and sometimes, police, just as the deals are made in the pr=
isons). "Everyone" on the streets knew (and still knows) that "Folks" are n=
ot welcome at Amundsen High School. Black and Gold (Latin Kings), but not B=
lack and Blue (Gangster Disciples). From the 1970s on. To this day.


When I agreed to become "School Security Coordinator" at Bowen High School =
(after I was driven out of Amundsen, partly because of this stuff), the dea=
l was that I would build to ensure that students would be able to attend th=
e school not matter what colors they rode under. It took two years before w=
e had any credibility on that, because everyone knew that the Latin Kings a=
nd Black P. Stones ran Bowen and that the Latin Dragons and GDs would be ou=
sted. The position we took was that this was a public school. Therefore, ev=
eryone could attend, even if we had to assign a bodyguard to the Dragons an=
d Disciples.=20


It was a subtle process, even more subtle than the one you might fantasize =
if you studied the HBO series "The Wire." Not something you could do in a q=
uickie, and certainly not something you could learn about in a graduate pro=
gram at my alma mater (The University of Chicago, BA English and Humanities=
 1969).=20


Part of the resistance to the program of keeping the public school safe for=
 even the most sociopathic teenagers (gang bangers at their worst are very =
nasty people, not simply misunderstood children) was built into the gang st=
ructure. So their narrative was almost always the same "You're picking on m=
e because I'm black..." or "You hate Puerto Ricans (or Mexicans)..."


Finally, "You teachers ain't shit. This is a failing school and I don't hav=
e to take shit from you..."


My favorite experience with this barrage of corporate propaganda, turned in=
side out, came after I had a young student named Ivory Lockett arrested. By=
 the time we got him, he was a veteran Black Stone heavy. At age 14. When I=
 stopped him from collecting taxes at the lunch line, he swung on me and we=
 had it out. He was arrested for aggravated battery. It should have been a =
cut and dried juvenile justice case, but he had heavy BPS clout, complete w=
ith all that "You're a racist..." stuff.


So when the arresting officer and I arrived in juvenile court for the first=
 hearing (at which Lockett would have gotten probation), we were told by th=
e prosecuting attorney (called "State's Attorney" in Illinois) that the def=
ense had gotten a continuance because an officer from Chicago Public School=
s had shown up and told them I was being investigated for being a "racist."=
 The investigator, a bent ex-sheriff's cop named Lemuel Hogue, worked for t=
he Board of Education's Office of the Inspector General. Every time we went=
 back to court, Hogue was there to block out for Lockett.


Lockett got older, and more cases accumulated against him. Unlawful use of =
a weapon. Possession of controlled substance. By the time he turned 17, he =
was facing a lot worse time as an adult than the early agg battery case bro=
ught by me. Eventually, Hogue disappeared, as did the defense's "racism" cl=
aim. Lockett was found guilty, as an adult, and sentence to several years i=
n prison (not juvie).=20


After the court case, he came outside the courtroom and said he wanted to s=
peak with me. We were in Juvie, at 1100 S. Hamilton in Chicago, one of the =
most heavily secured places on earth. Cops every 20 feet.=20


I thought he wanted to mix it up again, so I told him to stay ten feet away=
 and state his business.


He did.


He said he wanted to thank me for trying to straighten him out before it wa=
s "too late." He said that even his mother had let him down, and if he had =
listened to us at Bowen, he wouldn't be on his way to state prison. "I just=
 wanted you to know that..." he said.=20


If you watched "The Wire" closely, you know that not all biological parents=
 act in the best interests of the child, especially when gangs and drug mon=
ey are involved.


A year later, I was suspended, and Paul Vallas brought the mother of Locket=
t to the February 1999 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education, where she=
 took the floor and spent ten minutes talking about what a racist I was. Va=
llas assured her that her children were safe from me, that I had been suspe=
nded. Etc.


She didn't mention that her son was in prison because of the gang ties she =
had -- let's say, not discouraged.


In that maelstrom (that was when Vallas and Mayor Daley had me sued for a m=
illion dollars), the Board of Education even hired a lawyer (Fred Bates) to=
 investigate those "racism" charges (at a cost of $30,000). I found out (ye=
ars later) from Bates that he had written a report that the charges were un=
true. Bates told me, to my face, that he had visited Lockett in prison as p=
art of his investigation on Vallas's behalf, and against me. And that Locke=
t had told him I was telling the truth, and that the stuff against me was l=
ies.


Sorry.


These wealthy white elite school children who come into our schools to save=
 the world are, at best, a pain in the ass. Until they get over the propaga=
nda bath they've had about "bad teachers", they are a burden, not an asset.=
 Worse because they think their shit doesn't stink, thanks to Wendy Kopp an=
d her generation of corporate sponsors. (Didn't you ever think to ask how o=
ne Princeton kid could get all that money to bring her "vision" to the mass=
es =E2=80=94 or that she was in the same teacher bashing union busting trad=
itiion as Marva Collins?)...


That's enough for one morning,


George N. Schmidt
Editor, Substance


www.substancenews.net=20=20





-----Original Message-----
From: Teresa Lambe <teresalambe@yahoo.com>
To: arn-l@interversity.org
Sent: Sun, Jun 20, 2010 3:44 pm
Subject: Re: [arn-l] Learning On Other People's Kids - an important book on=
 Teach for America


With all due respect, George, doesn't the statement "They had to hire three=
=20
teachers for every one position to staff the=20
school" mean that, for 2/3 of the year, the kids had teachers who weren't a=
ble=20
to teach effectively?  Who didn't want to be there?  (Which, in my book, is=
=20
about the worst thing a teacher can be.)  Whether because of socioeconomic=
=20
stresses or lack of support or whatever?

"Chicago's massive drug gangs =E2=80=94 the Gangster Disciples and Black P.=
=20
Stones in the black community =E2=80=94 proliferated because Chicago's rule=
rs=20
neglected the children of those communities. Not because of "bad=20
teachers." "

I'm not sure if this was directed at me.  If it was, I'm puzzled as I don't=
=20
think I said *anywhere* that bad teachers were the root cause of any inner =
city=20
ills.  Of course they aren't-- that's just silly.  The issues of poverty, l=
ack=20
of opportunity, etc., in inner cities and in poor rural areas (which are wh=
ere=20
most of my teaching jobs were) are myriad.=20=20

The discussion started with a blog about Teach For America and-- I realize =
this=20
is unpopular-- I guess I think it's better to have one passionate person in=
 the=20
classroom for the year rather than 2 certified teachers who bail out and ju=
st=20
hope that the third person you hire is the one that "sticks."  That's a muc=
h=20
higher rate of teacher turn over than anything that's been said about TFA,=
=20
incidentally...

I've always respected your voice, George-- I've lurked and infrequently pos=
ted=20
on this list since I was expecting my daughter who's now 12.5 years old.  I=
 used=20
to post under my married name Teresa Glenn but have since become unmarried =
and=20
reverted to Lambe.  :)

  What I love about the list and why I've stay subscribed through 3 differe=
nt=20
schools and multiple email addresses is that it gives me food for thought. =
 I=20
like that at times I'm challenged by what's being said, at times I agree wi=
th=20
what's being said, and at times I think it's cuckoo... it keeps me=20
intellectually interested and I appreciate that.  I don't think, though, th=
at=20
it's necessary to tear down other people in order to make one's points.  Ag=
ain,=20
I respect you greatly and have enjoyed reading your posts for quite a while=
.  I=20
don't think your anecdotes trump mine, but it's given me something to think=
=20
about.  Thanks for the debate.

Teresa


=20