as i lay grading.
i accept the goatee.
“burn it up” by Horace Grant (1st mix 4/9/2013)
another new song. this one is dedicated to our dear mayor, giving him permission to burn the city down just like he’s planning.
a game of chance
today i spent 8 class periods in the library, dressed as a zombie for our world war z book festival. over 600 students came to the festival to play games about the book (bingo, zombie musical chairs, jeopardy) and get their faces painted. we dressed as zombies while other schools heard their sad fate.
we will survive, while other schools will not. though we have received repeated threats this year and have begun to wither due to the excessive stress, our school was spared. we still remain on probation, an arbitrary designation when our test scores are higher, our attendance levels our higher, and graduation rates continue to move upwards, we still have that label affixed to our beloved school as a way to scare us, threaten us and control us.
five years ago, i got a job at at a school that will be spared while thousands of other hard working teachers, just like me, will no longer have jobs. and thousands of students out there will no longer have passionate teachers. it was luck to get a job at a higher performing school. and as many words that the politicians will spill about resources and test scores, they are unwilling to admit that they are driving good teachers away either through school closings or excessive bureaucratic control.
to say it plainly, businessmen and women are destroying public education.
after an exhausting day of celebration with my students, i mourn the losses around the city and know that anyone of us could be next if we don’t do something first.
Truckface has been my favorite zine for years & years, and LB’s newest issue is the best yet. Covering her 4th & (part of) her 5th years of teaching high school in Chicago, LB writes with such care about the struggles & victories she faces both in & out of the classroom. She packs in story after story, with some highlights (for me, at least) being the ones of the championship dance moves, of shit stained walls, & of LB’s students putting a particular book on trial after its author committs domestic abuse. Much space is also given to the September 2012 Chicago Public Schools teachers strike, as LB shares tales of heartache & triumph from the picket line in the face of lies reported by the media & random strangers all over the US who thought they suddenly knew what was best for Chicago’s children. While most of the stories in Truckface center around education, they are really about so much more. They’re about staying strong & keeping positive, about finding ways to take care of ourselves (& others) during hard times, about giving up parts of ourselves for the things we believe in. As with previous issues, this one is text heavy & HUGE, a total bargain for $3. And it’s the best zine being published today, period. Highly recommended.
Get it for $3 + shipping over at Stranger Danger!
Out on the town. This issue is doing it up.
“This issue is another well-written, honest, and insightful zine from Heather. #5 recaps Heather’s experience embarking on Bad Zine, Everyone’s Fault zine tour in the summer of 2012. In her retelling of the tour’s events, Heather perfectly portrays just how meaningful of an experience it was, while also tenderly showing the emotions of what it’s like when “real life” continues to go on while one is adventuring away from home. Heather was a super important and supportive influence in my own decision to go on a zine tour in 2013 - I think everyone should read this zine so that they too can experience that (loving) shove they need to do something that might be scary and terrifying, but in the end is so rewarding and worth it.”
(Please note the trigger warning for suicide. And thanks to Kerri for the review!)
Get it for $1 + shipping over at Stranger Danger!
Get it! It is good!
spent many hours trying to lay out a zine, but an edited paragraph had gone missing! later, Hot Tod was spotted sleeping with the stolen edit. he was just angry that we were watching the Super Bowl instead of Downton Abbey.
but, all is done! finished! finally!
will spend my first day of break working on a zine, catching mice and watching morrissey videos.
must avoid: laundry, grading, lethargy.
I’ve just begun reading this and it is AMAZING in its complete exposure of the fucked-up consequences of the charter school system in Chicago in particular, and all of the attendant myths that charter schools are good for kids.
This is the first point and the crux of the report:
Educational Apartheid: 88 percent of students affected by CPS School Actions since 2001 are African-American. Schools more than 99 percent students of color (³Apartheid schools´) have been the primary target of CPS school actions²representing more than 80 percent of all affected schools. These students face a wide range of challenges outside of school, including high levels of violence and trauma, but are still expected to serve as test subjects for unproven school reform schemes. The massive school closings that have been part of CPS’ broader strategy dating back to the 1990s have drastic consequences: they tear apart school communities, disrupt deep and strong relationships between students, parents, and teachers, and dismantle organizations which are often students’ only centers of stability and safety.
adults are ruining education. we are experiencing a perpetual sadness.
