SCHOOLS: An ugly inside look

I worked as a substitute teacher from 2003-2005. First at District 271 and then at District 81. The reason I was only hired as a substitute teacher was because I had a B.A. in journalism and a minor in sociology. I was never paid more than $9.53 per hour. I was never given benefits. I never, in the time I worked for the Coeur d’Alene School District or the Spokane School District, made more than $700 a month after taxes. I considered it charity work.

I worked with women who had tenure even though they only had high school diplomas. They had been hired in the bad old days when the school district needed everyone they could get. I entered classrooms that had handwritten signs created by teachers. Often, these signs had words that were misspelled. I was stunned. Who were these ignorant morons? They were supposed to be teachers?

As a Jew from Chicago, I frequently encountered anti-semitism. I am a veteran and I know about the nationwide ignorance of Judaism, but never before had I encountered so much hatred for Jews. Not until I worked for the school district and the frothing fundamentalists who run it. Many of the teachers I worked with were violating the separation of church and state. They wanted to preach about Jesus every day in public schools. They wanted to ban great books like “Brave New World.”

Oh, and don’t forget their health. Some of them were so fat they could barely get out of their chairs to waddle down the hall to take a piss. They had diabetes so severe that they could no longer perform their duties, but they could not be fired. I want to ask you, should someone who weighs 400 pounds and has to go to the bathroom every hour be allowed to teach? Huh? Oh, yeah, boo-hoo. We gotta feel sorry for all these blubbery slobs.

Oh, I forgot. I spent most of my time working with kids who had developmental disabilities. On three separate occasions, women who ran the classrooms tried to get me hired on permanently. They said, “Betsy, you have a way with these kids. They really like you.” They were always turned down. Why? Didn’t they want to hire a Jew? Maybe they had a spot saved for a relative? But if you think you have the school district figured out, maybe you should talk to some of us who have been there and done that.

BETSY ROSENBERG

Rathdrum