No. 79: The Current State of Urban Education - An Educators' Round Table. Part ONE of THREE. - Hand Me My Purse.

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hand Me My Purse is a production of iHeart Podcasts.
So while I was perusing Marilyn mccoo's internet today, I
came across this and I want to share it with you.
And it comes from an account it's called Inner Practitioner
and it's at mind Tendencies too. Don't remember if I

(00:23):
got it from Instagram, Twitter, I don't remember. I just
screenshot these things and I put them in a file
for show openers, just so you know. So it says here,
trauma makes you feel like you're responsible for other people's moods,
so you drain yourself and make sure they feel okay.

(00:47):
Healing makes you realize it's not your responsibility to regulate
their emotions, manage their insecurities, heal their wounds, and calm
their inner storms.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Listen, how bullshit. That's exactly what it is.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
If you think you're not supposed to focus on your
healing and take care of everybody else, it's definitely an
act or a response to trauma when you are always
feeling like you're responsible for making sure everyone else is okay.
Meanwhile you're dragging yourself through the mud. Nope, that's not

(01:29):
what we're doing, Okay, we ain't doing it. We off it.
It's twenty twenty four, it's a new day. We focused
on healing, so let me read it to you one
more time. Trauma makes you feel like you are responsible
for other people's moods, so you drain yourself and make
sure that they feel okay. While healing makes you realize

(01:50):
that it's not your responsibility to regulate their emotions, manage
their insecurities, heal their wounds, and calm their inner storms.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
And that's that on that I can't see the better

(02:25):
that have it. Okay, what's up, y'all?

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Welcome to hand me my purse the podcast I am
Me Me Walker, and I will be here forever, host
each and every single time that you tune into this podcast,
So go ahead and get comfortable. Get yourself a glass
of your favorite beverage, whether that's tabletop mineral water in
a European country, which is where I wish that I
was at this moment. A shot of wheat grass because

(02:51):
taking care of yourself is really important. Wheat grass is
not the best tasting thing I've ever had, but it
is really good for you, and I actually I don't
mind the taste because I like things that kind of
I love a nasty, healthy beverage.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
I do.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
I feel like it's working on the inside doing something good.
Or whether that is a hot cup of ginger tea
with honey, lemon and cloves, I think that sounds delicious. Anyway,
go light yourself a candle, or light some incense, or
burn some stage and just get ready to chill out
and have yourself a grand old good time. What's up,

(03:37):
friends and can It's me and me, Resident Auntie Supreme,
here at hand, me my purse, and today my DearS.
I am drinking on water. Why am I drinking on water? Well,
because I told you guys in a few episodes or
a few episodes ago, I should say, I told you
that I am working on drinking more water and green

(04:01):
tea in twenty twenty four because essentially those two are
healing bombs that help you from the inside out, and
so I'm gonna drink them more. And I have been
drinking green tea more. I had some today. I actually
had two cups today.

Speaker 2 (04:17):
And water.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
I'm working my way back up. You know, it's not
the easiest for me. Once I get in the pocket.
Once I get in the pocket, like I can't be
stopped until I'm stopped. But the problem is me getting
into the pocket. And that's usually the problem with me
with anything. But since this year, I'm focusing on discipline.

(04:41):
My two words for twenty four are discipline and believe.
So I believe that I have the discipline to get
in the pocket with drinking this water. Again, I own
so many motherfucking cups and water bottles. There's no reason
why I should ever be thirsty or dehydrated, and yet

(05:03):
here I am not consuming enough water. Get your life together, Mimi. Okay,
I will say one day last week, before I left
the house for work, I drank fifty ounces of water.
That's a good start to a day. I'll also let
you know that I did go to the bathroom a
lot that day. But you know what, maybe the key.
You know what I'm gonna try, guys. I'm gonna try

(05:25):
to consume as much water as I can before I
walk out the door. That's gonna be that's the pocket.
I'll let you guys know. Next week. I'm probably gonna
forget because I have add but I'm gonna let you
guys know what's what happens within the seven days from
the time that this episode is released. In the next one,
I'm gonna let you know if I got in the pocket,

(05:46):
and if you don't know what it means to get
in the pocket, just use your imagination. It's not anything
nasty usually is it pertains to like playing an instrument.
I think the drums. Don't question me, no ask me
any questions. Just go with me, go along with it. Okay,
my friend, do well.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
With some respect on my name.

Speaker 1 (06:10):
So for today's jam, Friends in kN I picked a
song by one of my favorite artists and from my
favorite album of hers. I've had songs of hers and
I think, actually, no, it wasn't from this album. I've
had songs of hers or a song of hers as
the jam before. But this song is called Starstruck. The

(06:32):
artist is Santa Gold love her, saw her live. She's
one of those artists where I loved her first album
and then I went to see her live and I
was like, she's a fucking genius.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
She's a genius and there's no way around it. Okay.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
So I chose the song Starstruck because I was actually
listening to one of my favorite playlists and the song
came up. It's a very random playlist and the song
came up and I was like, man, I love this song.

(07:05):
I was like, Boom, I'm gonna share it with my
friends again, because that's kind of how it goes. Either
I'm listening to a song on repeat, or I hear
a song that I love and I'm like, I'm going
to share this with them because somebody else needs to
know about this hot shit that I'm listening to right now. Boom,
here we go. This is from Santagle's first album and
it is called lay Artist. If I'm not mistaken, let

(07:29):
me look this up. Hold please, friends again, and what
do you know? I am mistaken. The name of the
first album was Santa Gold. It was self titled, but
she it was spelled s a nt O g o
l D. The first album, she ended up having to
change the name of the spelling of the name. I
remember this from a long time ago because of some

(07:51):
like trademark thing or somebody else had a name had
their name their name is spelled the same way or something.
So she changed it to sa GLD, but the name
of the album was Santa Gold.

Speaker 2 (08:04):
It came out.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
The album was released on April twenty nine, two thousand
and eight, and let me just give you a little
background information about the album. The album was written, So
first of all, let's just get into the kind of
black genius we're dealing with over here. The album was

(08:25):
written and recorded in a span of eight weeks. I'm
reading this from Misha Paris's Internet. Let me tell you something.
If you know who Misha Perris Paris is, then you
a real one. Excuse me, you are a real gen xer.
Misha Parris was a singer. I think she's from the UK,
but anyway, and I don't know why her name of
all names, popped up in my head, but anyway, it

(08:47):
says Santago was written and recorded in the span of
eight weeks. Really, When working on the album, Santagol aimed
to defy boundaries in genre classifications and the expectations from
a black woman to sing R and B. She says
she was able to work with all of these different
genres that are typically subcultural, like dub or punk or something,

(09:10):
and then by writing them in a way that had hooks,
made it accessible to everyone. Genius Why because she created
songs that were different genres like dub or punk that
typically typically not you know a lot of people. You know,

(09:33):
black people. Being black is not a monolithic experience. So
black people listen to all kind of music. I'm one
of those people. But these are not genres that black
people typically listen to, particularly in America.

Speaker 2 (09:45):
Right.

Speaker 1 (09:46):
But then she wrote them in a style, in the
R and B style. Oh that is genius, my guy.
Because putting a hook in a song black people don't
like it. Everybody gonna because people like hooks. People love
a good hook. If you really want to hook black people,
put a hook and a bridge in a song. Boom,

(10:08):
we love it, Yes, indeed we do. Anyway, what am
I talking about?

Speaker 2 (10:15):
Okay?

Speaker 1 (10:15):
Another thing that I want to read is that about
the ranking of the album is fucking amazing. So if
you're not familiar with this album, please go listen to
it and listen to it from start to finish because
it is complete black creative genius work.

Speaker 2 (10:38):
Period. The cover of the album is amazing.

Speaker 1 (10:40):
She's sitting like little miss Muffet sat on a tough
and she's throwing up all this gold glitter and the
cover is in black and white.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
And you know, that's kind of what the album is.

Speaker 1 (10:49):
It's like she's spitting up and up chucking nothing but glitter.

Speaker 2 (10:54):
It's pure fire. That's it. Accolades, Thank you Wikipedia.

Speaker 1 (11:03):
Santago was ranked among the best albums of two thousand
and eight by numerous publications. Billboard named it the second
best album of two thousand and eight.

Speaker 2 (11:14):
What the fuck? That's aggressive? Oh my god.

Speaker 1 (11:20):
They named it the second best album of two thousand
and eight Billboard, while Rolling Stone, Spin, and New York
all listed the album at number six on their year
end lists lists. When you say that, just like masks,

(11:40):
it sounds like your mouth is doing this. Masks, don't
make fun of me, don't laugh at me, don't roll
your eyes, Okay, because I hear it. Okay, I hear it,
and I recognize it. Number two. It made the second
best album of two thousand and eight by Billboard. Also,

(12:04):
it was included in lists ranking the best albums of
the whole decade from two thousand to twenty ten of
the two thousands, just the decade. Complex, and I'm only
talking about magazine publications that I'm aware of. She got
a lot of other accolades, but I don't really know
these ones. Complex ranked it at number twenty six on

(12:26):
their list for best albums of the two thousands, the first.

Speaker 2 (12:32):
Decade of the two thousands.

Speaker 1 (12:34):
So if that's not enough to make you say, let
me just go check this, check this out. I said
White because I saw her name. Her name is Santy White,
and that's her real name. She has a very interesting story.

Speaker 2 (12:49):
She grew up.

Speaker 1 (12:50):
I want to say upper middle class black in New York,
of course, because of who I am. When I really
get into something, I do a deep dive and I
want to know everything about the person that I'm going
psycho over. I want to know all about them. She's
either from New York or she's from Philadelphia. She wrote

(13:13):
some songs on Yep, she's from Philadelphia.

Speaker 2 (13:16):
I was wrong.

Speaker 1 (13:17):
And she's a Libra. Shout out the libras. She's a
September libra. There's a difference, but shout out the libras.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
Anyway.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
I'm telling you creative genius. We bi Auchia Anyway says
she was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Yes, her father was
an advisor to the mayor and her mother was a psychiatrist. Well,
then there's that either way.

Speaker 2 (13:45):
Oh, look at this.

Speaker 1 (13:46):
She attended Wesleyan University. Wesleyan University and she double majored
in music and African American studies. Come on, friends, come on, dude, man,
I love that. Okay, all right, I don't want to
talk that much too. And I will say this though

(14:09):
a very good friend of mine, her name is Reese.
The reason I even found out about Santa Gold is
because she co wrote and executive produced my friend Reese's album,
which is called How I Do, and How I Do
came out I want to say, in two thousand and one,

(14:31):
another piece of absolute fucking genius. And Reese's a genius too.
But that's neither here nor there. Let me stop talking
about this. I can talk about music all day long
for real. Let me get back to this song. So
the name of the song is Starstruck. I like the
song because it sounds amazing.

Speaker 2 (14:51):
It got me.

Speaker 1 (14:52):
I never paid attention to the lyrics, and I sang
them songs like that. There's something that is trans like,
not trans like transgender, trance like t R a n C.
There's something trance like about music when I can listen
to it, sing the lyrics, learn the lyrics, and still

(15:15):
not really pay attention to what's going on in the
song because I'm just here as the kids say, my
little cousin.

Speaker 2 (15:21):
Shout out to my old cousin Lindsey.

Speaker 1 (15:25):
My little cousin Lindsay always talks about like I'm here
for the vibes. This is the kind of song where
I'm here for the vibes, I'm here for the energy.

Speaker 2 (15:33):
I don't know what she's talking about. She could literally
be saying.

Speaker 1 (15:39):
The United States of America all the capitals or the
colors of the rainbow in Swahili.

Speaker 2 (15:47):
I would know. I wouldn't care, but I'm gonna sing it.
The music.

Speaker 1 (15:51):
It puts me in a trance almost, and it's a
little scary, but I like it.

Speaker 2 (15:57):
Anyway. Check it out.

Speaker 1 (15:59):
We're gonna listen to it. Also, let me tell you
what this says. It says starstruck by Santagold. This is
because I was like, wait a minute. As I was
preparing this, I was like, what the fuck is this
song about, because I don't even know. Then I read
the lyrics and I was like, Okay, it seems like
it's talking about being obsessed and being shallow, and you know,
people just seeming to have it all together and then

(16:23):
when you find out they are just shallow and there's
nothing beyond the surface, like you're like, ill, I'm all
over this or I'm going somewhere else.

Speaker 2 (16:30):
Anyway.

Speaker 1 (16:31):
I read this on Felicia Rashad's Internet. It says, Starstruck
by Santagold appears to explore themes of superficiality, disillusionment, and
the allure of fame. The lyrics suggest a sense of
longing or fascination with someone or something that has a
certain appeal or quality that the narrator desires. However, upon

(16:53):
further inspection, the narrator realizes that this fascination is hollow
and lacks substance. Overall, Starstruck may serve as a cautionary
tale about the dangers of being seduced by superficiality and
the emptiness that can accompany chasing fame or idolizing individuals
who may not have the substance or value. The narrator

(17:15):
initially dispersived. I love that it's a dope song, go

(17:42):
listen to.

Speaker 3 (17:42):
It, but.

Speaker 1 (18:03):
Jesus Christ, Brian, Okay, So today I'm here with some
really important people to me and some very close friends
of mine who are also educators, and today we are
going to be speaking about the state of education in America.

(18:26):
And that is a heavy conversation. It's also a heavy lift.
And the reason that we are talking about it is
because I personally feel like educators don't really get a voice.
You know, parents do a lot of talking at and
talking about the people who are responsible for their children

(18:47):
for seven to eight hours during the day. The district
or the school districts talk a lot about the educators
and what they're not doing, and how they're not performing,
and how students are underperforming.

Speaker 2 (18:58):
The students come to school and.

Speaker 1 (19:01):
Totally disrespect and violate educators, and they don't really get
a voice. Kids get a voice, of course, the district
gets a voice, the state gets a voice. Parents always
have a voice, but the people who are responsible for
the education or instruction of students don't often get a voice.
And all of the educators that are here with us today,

(19:24):
have you guys always worked in underserved communities? Yeah, so
everybody here has only worked in underserved communities.

Speaker 2 (19:33):
We're going to go around the table.

Speaker 1 (19:34):
I want everyone to introduce themselves and I want you
to just say your name. I want you to say
how long you've been an educator, and just the city
that you've worked in or city and state where you
have worked and I'll start.

Speaker 2 (19:51):
I'm me Me.

Speaker 1 (19:53):
I have worked in education for this is my tenth
school year. I worked school when I was twenty one
in Baltimore City and I still work in West Baltimore.
When I was twenty one, I worked for like a
pilot program for alternative student. It was an alternative program
for middle school students, students that have failed the seventh

(20:16):
grade and they were supposed to be going to the
ninth grade the following year. And if they would have
passed this program, it was like an accelerated program, then
they would be able to go to the ninth grade
the following year even though they have failed the seventh
I want to say, the seventh grade. And that was interesting,
and I've been here at the school for like I said,

(20:37):
this is my tenth school year and I love it.
But it is different and it is hard, and we're
going to get into that. So introduce yourself.

Speaker 4 (20:50):
All right. I'm Brian. I've been working in education for
twenty three years. I started off in the prison system
in Colorado, where I worked for a year, and then
when I came to Baltimore, I started working at an
alternative program for scholars that have been put out of
other schools and we're struggling with any number of disabilities,

(21:15):
family issues, and all sorts of stuff going on. From there,
I got in the curriculum curriculum development teacher training and
then became an administrator. I've been an administrator for about
thirteen years, I think thirteen years in Baltimore City.

Speaker 2 (21:32):
Thank you. Next, all right, my name is Heather.

Speaker 5 (21:35):
I've been teaching in Baltimore City for twenty two years.
This is my twenty second year. I've always worked in
Title I schools underserve schools. I started in elementary school
where I worked in elementary school for ten years, and
then I moved to middle school and that is where
I am currently working.

Speaker 2 (21:56):
Hello.

Speaker 6 (21:56):
My name is David. I've been in a system since
two thousand and four. I worked in middle school. Now
I'm in a middle high school where it's very challenging
and at the end of the day, I really second
guessed myself if this is the right career for me.

Speaker 2 (22:11):
Well, keep coming back, keep coming back. Was like, aa. Hello,
my name is Shiita.

Speaker 1 (22:19):
I've been an educator with Baltimore City Schools for this
is year twenty five for me, started off at a
private school and then transitioned over to a Baltimore City school.
First year made me really almost second guests, but I

(22:41):
stuck with it. I've served elementary for nine years before
transitioning to middle school.

Speaker 2 (22:49):
I really love the middle schoolers, and I am five years.

Speaker 1 (22:55):
From when you went to throw in the hat to
hang in there.

Speaker 2 (23:02):
Hello. My name is Mia.

Speaker 7 (23:05):
This is my ninth year as an educator in Baltimore
City school.

Speaker 2 (23:10):
I started in a K through eight school.

Speaker 7 (23:14):
I was a special education resource teacher for three years
before moving into what I currently do. I'm a special
education not technically not administrator, maybe coordinator. I co chaired
a special education department here at this middle high school level.

Speaker 2 (23:39):
My name is Joey.

Speaker 8 (23:41):
I have been in Baltimore City public schools. This is
my twenty third year. Before that, I taught art lessons
through recreation and parks in a county district, and even
taught a year at a Christian academy, which I'm sure
a lot of people would find hard to believe. I

(24:01):
am a visual arts teacher. I absolutely love what I do,
some days more than others. I also started with elementary
middle school, so I taught pre K through the eighth grade,
which was like a lot of switching hats throughout the day,
and now I solely teach middle school. When I tell

(24:25):
people that, they cringe, and they also say, oh God,
bless your soul, because that is an interesting time in
a child's life. So yeah, I am seven years from
retirement and some people say, oh, you're not going to
be able to walk away, and I say, oh.

Speaker 2 (24:42):
Yes, I can, but I can. Hello.

Speaker 9 (24:49):
My name is Ebony and I am a mental health
professional I've been This is my thirtieth year as a
mental health professional and my tenth year in the Baltimore
City Public schools. I have worked in Department of Juvenile Services,
child Welfare, the adult jails, and various other community programs

(25:15):
within the Baltimore City area.

Speaker 2 (25:17):
Okay, thank you everybody.

Speaker 1 (25:19):
So the reason that I selected the friends that I
have here today is because, as everybody can hear.

Speaker 2 (25:28):
We got a wide array of.

Speaker 1 (25:32):
Talent here, but everybody, like I said, is a veteran
and I felt like these would be the best people
to offer insight on what's going on in education today.
I have Brian here because he is an administrator and

(25:52):
I did not know that used to work in a jail.
He explained so much. I didn't know that, but it
makes a lot of since. But he has history in
specially but in addition to that working in alternative schools
with students that have heightened behavioral issues. Hea, there has

(26:13):
been a teacher, as she said, for you, did you
say twenty two years? Twenty two years, and you've worked
with different grade levels. David is also a veteran. He's
been here for a long time, and I have him
here because he is the dean of schools at the
school where he works, and he has a very traditional
approach to discipline. She'd I had no idea that you

(26:38):
worked in a private school before, so that is very interesting.
And you are five years away from retirement. You're the
closest to retirement at the table. All right, I'm going
to pray your strengthen the Lord and that you make
it through.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
These next five years.

Speaker 1 (26:54):
Mia. I definitely wanted to have her here because oftentimes
students with special needs go overlooked and forgotten, and I
wanted somebody at the table who could speak to some
of the challenges that those students face, and also educators
who work directly with those students the challenges that they face.

(27:20):
Joy is an art teacher, and I personally have witnessed
her teaching, and some of the students who run amok
in school and get f's in every other class go
to her class and get an A. And I think
that that is amazing. And it doesn't it's not a
testament to the other teachers that.

Speaker 2 (27:40):
They aren't teaching. But there's something about.

Speaker 1 (27:45):
Students entering her classroom and learning about art around the
world and them not I guess maybe not having to
worry about math or reading, they can express themselves in
another way of the than having to meet some kind
of academic achievement. And of course Ebany is just an og.
She says she's been working in mental health for thirty

(28:07):
years and she is still very pleasant and kind and
not mean to people. I'm not really sure how you
do that, or how you manage to be one of
the kindest people in the building when you've been dealing
with people with mental health issues for thirty years. So
the way that the conversation is going to go today, guys,
we're just gonna I have some questions that I want
to ask you.

Speaker 2 (28:27):
Guys.

Speaker 1 (28:28):
I'm not really going to be doing a lot of
talking in terms of my thoughts on the questions, because
I want you guys to talk. If I have some input,
I may add something, but it's really just about you guys.
And the first question that I want to ask you
is what are your thoughts on the current state of

(28:50):
education in America? We can go around in a circle
or we cannot. We don't have to do it. It doesn't
have to be regimented like that. But I just I
want to hear what you think. Who's the brave soul
we got one?

Speaker 6 (29:04):
I think it's a titanic.

Speaker 2 (29:06):
Oh wow, it is sinking. He's coming in hot.

Speaker 6 (29:09):
On a daily basis. Lack of parental support, and when
the parents come, it's always the teachers against their kids,
opposed to them coming up for parent meetings, PTA meetings,
being a stakeholder, opposed to being an enemy of the
school system.

Speaker 2 (29:25):
Okay, anybody else love to ask David about what he said? Though, yes, yes,
this is a conversation. So why do you think that is?

Speaker 6 (29:37):
I think it starts from the top the district. Everything
is about the parents and not what the teachers need
and want, and we're not heard. So when we do
have a voice. It's always on a defense mechanism opposed
to saying why we do what we do?

Speaker 4 (29:56):
All right, but where do you think the distrust and
the schools comes from?

Speaker 2 (30:00):
At the top and it just rolls down. What's top?

Speaker 1 (30:02):
What's the top CEO? Okay, headquarters, the headquarters at the district? Yes, okay,
all right.

Speaker 4 (30:09):
So I'm going to say one quick thing. I think
it comes from the fact that we've been promising families
for a couple of generations now that if you do
well in school, that you're going to have some measure
of success, get a job, do something, you know after school.
So it's almost like a linear line. You do well
in school, it promises you something after school. There has

(30:29):
not been jobs for high school kids coming out, whether
you have straight a's or if you have c's or
d's or anything else. The same kids that have d's
looking across the aist from the same kids have had
a's in school and they're all working at Amazon. So
what's the difference. So why would the parents necessarily come
in thinking that school has anything to offer other than

(30:51):
you know, frussing at their kids for X.

Speaker 7 (30:53):
Y, and Z.

Speaker 8 (30:54):
That's a good point When I hear David talk about
things trickling down from the top in the district, it
reminds me of an old video clip that I saw
years ago, and it was in a panel of educators
and they were speaking about underserved children and as many
African American educators on there. But the woman who was
speaking was saying that the district is afraid of the parents.

(31:16):
The principle is afraid of the district, the teachers are
afraid of the principal, and the kids aren't scared of anyone.
The kids aren't scared of anyone. And I feel like
that's where the discipline comes in. But I think in
order for us to get to the root of that,
we have to understand that times have changed.

Speaker 2 (31:36):
We in this room are of an age, of.

Speaker 8 (31:39):
A similar age with people of a certain age of
a wonderful, beautiful, certain name.

Speaker 1 (31:44):
We're all between forty and sixty.

Speaker 8 (31:47):
Yeah, so, but we all were raised in a completely
different educational system.

Speaker 2 (31:54):
We did not have cell phones, we did not have computers.
There all times have changed, just like.

Speaker 8 (32:00):
We were raised in a school district time that was
different from our parents. So we also have to think about,
you know, how do we get past that.

Speaker 2 (32:12):
How do we.

Speaker 8 (32:13):
Change to fit the times? But it's not just us
who has to change. I do agree with David that
the parents parenting styles and the parents willing to be
our partners as opposed to our enemies in education, I
think could create a massive shift that could keep the
Titanic afloating.

Speaker 7 (32:36):
I think I agree with a lot that was said,
and I think that there's such a disconnect between what
kids actually need in order to be successful. I think,
and going back to what Joy said about, you know,
people of a certain age and how we were educated,
our needs were different from the needs of the students

(32:57):
that we're educating nowadays. Like, these kids exposed to so
much trauma. You know, they're living life through you know,
a more violent lens than what we did. And so
they're bringing all of that trauma into school with them,
and we're expecting them to come to school do everything
that we ask them to do and learn and just

(33:21):
you know, do what about the trauma all of these
things that they're feeling inside, all of these things that
they're exposed to in their communities in the world, Like
what are they supposed to do with that?

Speaker 2 (33:31):
How do they process that?

Speaker 7 (33:33):
And be successful in school and then ultimately become successful adults.

Speaker 2 (33:40):
I totally agree with that.

Speaker 9 (33:42):
I think from a mental health lens, sometimes it's hard
to kind of describe where it starts, whether it's at
the top as it relates to, you know, the school district,
or whether it is the families, the communities, the gens.
You know, we serving. We are in an underserved population,

(34:06):
So what does that mean. That means drugs, That means
you know, poverty, it means lack in so many areas
and coming from that and growing up and being in
the different environments, whether it's working for the Public Defender's
Office with adults, with adults in prison, or whether it's
working with DJs and being able to see it from

(34:28):
so many different aspects. So many people are institutionalized, and
so to say that it starts at the top of
an institution is very it's kind of chaotic because if
we're institutionalized, you know, in urban environments, in terms of
you got to give this to me, I earned this,
I deserve this, And it's a mentality that I believe

(34:53):
is cyclical. So I don't even think it's a situation
where it can be fixed.

Speaker 2 (34:58):
As much as it.

Speaker 9 (34:58):
Has to be mannaged and mindsets have to change when
you start thinking about what we do as educators. And
I think another thing that is so disheartening is not
necessarily the kids that we serve or the families, but
the lack of educators that has the tolerance for that. Now,

(35:19):
because underserved populations has been around.

Speaker 2 (35:22):
I've been in one now.

Speaker 9 (35:23):
I've grew up in this area, whether it's here or
it's in New York, and it's poverty. You know, a
lot of my family didn't go to school and all
these other things, but there was a different caliber of teachers, like.

Speaker 2 (35:35):
The veterans around here.

Speaker 9 (35:36):
You guys are going out in a couple of years,
what does it look like, you know? And I'm not
saying that there aren't people passionate, people who love kids
who are coming up in the ranks who won't be
just as effective as you guys, But that is the
concern I have in terms of just the passion for

(35:59):
those and the tolerance to deal with this environment.

Speaker 2 (36:06):
Did somebody just say, amen, I.

Speaker 1 (36:10):
Want to I definitely agree with everything I heard. Just
to add to that, being in education for so long
and being able to see or teach elementary students. I
remember when I first started teaching, writing was a big push.

Speaker 2 (36:29):
You know, not just.

Speaker 1 (36:31):
Handwriting, which penmanship is very very important to me, but
writing in general because it then connects to that reading
children are able to express themselves verbally as well as
in written form. Over the years, I've seen how politics.

Speaker 2 (36:50):
Have really changed the state of education.

Speaker 1 (36:53):
Politicians coming in and making all these campaign promises in
order to fulfill their campaign promises.

Speaker 2 (36:59):
The US SURE then goes.

Speaker 1 (37:01):
Onto the district because now we have to make all
these changes. We have to make sure our children are
passing these statewide national tests that they must take every year,
and some of the priorities of reading, writing, basic computation,
some of those things get pushed to the wayside.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
And that's what I've seen.

Speaker 1 (37:25):
I've seen that the priority has not necessarily been on
can our children actually read, will they be reading on
grade level at graduation upon graduation, and can be successful adults.
And so when we say that our children are leaving
or graduating even with straight a's or d's and not

(37:45):
being able to find work, I believe some of that
stems from the lack of education. Because as educators we
are our hands are tied in some ways you want
to push our We want to push our students, want
to hold them accountable. But if they're not being held
accountable for being able to read on grade level, if

(38:08):
they're not being given in the curriculum the knowledge or
the task or the activities they need to be able
to be successful adults, then this is what you have
when they graduate. You have frustrated now young adults out
here in this world, and how are they going to
give back? So I believe that our state of education

(38:30):
shift or shifts continuously with politicians or politics.

Speaker 2 (38:36):
I should say I agree with all of that.

Speaker 5 (38:40):
And that kind of goes back to where David started
with it's a sinking ship because at the top, the
top is being mandated to do things based on the
funding that they are receiving, based on the like Shadows said,
the promises from political aspects from the government. And with that,

(39:07):
teacher's hands are tied. Teacher's hands are tied because we
don't have a say we are.

Speaker 2 (39:20):
You guys are ridiculous.

Speaker 1 (39:21):
I'm glad that nobody is here to see this, but
uh and I have thought are crazy. But of people,
Heather said that teacher's hands are tied and she lost
her thought.

Speaker 2 (39:34):
And that happens. That happens because we're.

Speaker 1 (39:37):
Working with kids, people who educators have the most ADHD.
We cannot focus, we do not follow directions. Uh so
that is normal.

Speaker 2 (39:48):
It's okay, Heather, it'll come back to you.

Speaker 4 (40:06):
I think it was making me think about what you
just said, Sheida, in terms of since no Child left Behind,
we've been so focused on test taking skills, these discrete
tests that are very like not connected oftentimes, And it
then made me think about what I said originally, which is,
what are the jobs that so many of our scholars
are competing for? And do you even need.

Speaker 2 (40:26):
To be literate?

Speaker 4 (40:27):
Like you can go and work at a lot of
Do you need to be literate to work at Amazon?
Do you need to be literate to work at McDonald's,
where literally they have pictures of things like what is
the focus from what we're actually trying, Like if it
was important corporations that our scholars were literate, they would
be literate. I believe because all that money that's coming
in through the federal government being funded through corporations through

(40:48):
tax dollars, they're going to fund what is important to them.
And I don't know if that is the most important
thing to corporations and businesses because technically right now you
don't need a workforce is at literate for underserved populations.
That's gonna, you know, make that big of a difference.
So I think maybe, you know, when I think about
it from that lens, maybe it has become you know,

(41:11):
marginalized for that reason.

Speaker 6 (41:14):
Now I'm dating myself. I can recall when the lottery
came into Baltimore, the first concern was money will go
towards education? That was ignored. Then the casinos. That was
a push x amount of dollars between the casinos and lottery.
That should take care every need of every school district

(41:36):
in America. So until America is serious about education, it
will continue to be the Titanic the Titanic.

Speaker 4 (41:45):
But again, what is your money going towards?

Speaker 1 (41:47):
Right?

Speaker 4 (41:48):
Like you got to think, like what are they funded? Like, okay,
so for the casinos, for the lottery, all those things
that are pushing money towards education. What going back to
what she had just said, though, what are they at Like,
what is the things that are most important to fund money?

Speaker 2 (42:04):
Isn't there? They say? But it's not coming to us?

Speaker 5 (42:09):
So does it.

Speaker 2 (42:12):
Or is it coming to us?

Speaker 1 (42:13):
But it's not coming to us for the things that
would actually help students beasts, not to sound low, but
for them to get smarter, Like is it not coming
to them for the things that they need? Because if
you think about it, okay, they get the money because
a lot of money goes through certain schools.

Speaker 2 (42:31):
A lot of money comes through our school. But where
does it go?

Speaker 1 (42:34):
Trips, programs, people in the building, this that who's gonna
help these kids read? I remember our former principal shout
out to the former principal.

Speaker 2 (42:47):
Our firm principal.

Speaker 1 (42:48):
She didn't like athletics, she didn't like programs, she didn't
want nothing. And her answer would always be, but can
they read? And I used to always say to her, like,
oh my god, he's I'm saying that's aggressive, Like all right,
they're gonna learn how to read.

Speaker 2 (43:03):
But you know what, sometimes they don't. They don't learn
how to read.

Speaker 1 (43:06):
So I kind of understand where this came from, where
her thought process came from. But all of this money,
the money is there because if you think about it,
I spent seventy me and David went to play the
lottery before the staff party. I spent seventy two dollars
one day trying to win the power ball, and now
I played the lottery one to two times a year.
Think about people who play the lottery every single day.

(43:28):
That casino. We ain't gonna say nothing, but we all
know that we have a coworker who loves going to
the casino all the time.

Speaker 2 (43:35):
Think about so many more of those people.

Speaker 1 (43:37):
So all the money that's going into stay in the
zone auto zone if we all if you think about
how much money comes out of those ventures. The money's there,
but is the money? Where's the money going?

Speaker 2 (43:53):
One? Two?

Speaker 1 (43:55):
I wonder if the same programs are the same dispersing
of funds that happens in Baltimore City schools is the
same way funds are dispersed in Montgomery County schools. I
wonder if it looks the same. And if it doesn't,
that's the issue, because if they have money going into
their elementary and early learning centers that is focused on

(44:17):
phonics and literacy and math and the foundations of education,
then do we Okay, so maybe we do, But what
happens in middle school or further in elementary school? In
middle school where I could not believe when I got
when I first started working here, and there was a
twelfth grade student that read on a first grade level?
Houseway what happened K through eleven? Where nobody I mean,

(44:42):
and I get it. He did have an IEP, which
I understand. But me and I have been talking lately
because I'm trying to really get an understanding of how
a kid gets to eighteen and still reads on a
first grade level. And you've been going to school for
eleven years, eleven to twelve years, and you speak to

(45:03):
that me and how we talked before about how the
so so.

Speaker 7 (45:07):
Yeah, So it's not just students with special needs who
you know, may make it to twelfth grade and be
reading on first grade level. You have students, typically developing
children who make it to high school who are reading
several grade levels below. Because again, I think it goes
back to that push every day and yeah, in elementary
school and K through three when students should be learning

(45:30):
to read, that's where all of the money needs to
be focused on programs to teach those kids to read,
because once they get beyond third grade, we're teaching them
to understand what they read, yes, and so teachers don't
have time to go back and teach phonic skills to
fifth and sixth graders.

Speaker 2 (45:48):
And they shouldn't have to shouldn't have to.

Speaker 7 (45:50):
So there should definitely be more money I think, channeled
into those programs for early literacy, but there should still
be some additional funding for middle school students too, for
literacy programs, because again we're saying, as educators, we see
these kids who still can't read when they get and
some of them may have been exposed to extra literacy

(46:12):
programs in elementary school, but they still just couldn't achieve
or master those skills, And so then what do we
do with them?

Speaker 2 (46:19):
As middle and high school teachers?

Speaker 7 (46:21):
What do we do with them?

Speaker 1 (46:25):
It's a question that I ask students quite often, and
I think a lot of it goes back to.

Speaker 2 (46:32):
Parents.

Speaker 1 (46:34):
They are we are our children's first teachers, whether it
be the parent that birth you, or the adult that's
responsible for making sure or taking care of you up
until you can take care of yourself, or your village.

Speaker 2 (46:50):
Yeah so I'm a village child, right, So whoever's responsibility
that is.

Speaker 1 (46:56):
In some cases drop the ball, I ask students now,
even every year when I'm teaching, I always ask students,
can you recall when you were in kindergarten, first grade,
second grade, especially kindergarten in first grade, and I would
ask them a question and I would have hands going up.
I said, how many of you can remember being absent

(47:17):
from school maybe two or three times a week?

Speaker 2 (47:19):
A lot of hands went up.

Speaker 1 (47:21):
And when you think about that, if you add that
up as an early childhood teacher, the foundation is late
at the very beginning of the school year. Even when
you're teaching first grade, you have to go back and
reteach the alphabet all over again for that very reason,
because we have students who miss so much school. But
those same students come into the first grade with the
same habits and it's not their fault. It is the

(47:44):
person in charge who is not making sure they're getting
to school every day.

Speaker 2 (47:48):
And so when you're having children.

Speaker 1 (47:49):
Miss so much school at that very young age, they
are missing those skills, They are missing those building blocks
to help them so that they can go from learning
how to.

Speaker 2 (48:01):
Read to the read to learn stage.

Speaker 1 (48:04):
But if you're missing school, and once again we're going
back to accountability of parents, if we go back to
where stems from, I believe absenteeism is a big issue
in our district alone. I'm not sure about other school districts,
but I know in our district alone, what is the
point of having truancy court. What is the point of

(48:26):
having any of these pieces in place if they're not
being reinforced. If parents are still allowed to send their
child to school.

Speaker 2 (48:36):
Even now, students can come into the building.

Speaker 1 (48:40):
As long as they get here before first period ends,
they're not going to be considered absent. You know that
they're going to be considered late. And then none of
those tardiness equate to an absence.

Speaker 2 (48:50):
So there's no.

Speaker 1 (48:51):
Accountability on the parent end as far as them being
made to make sure their children are up and in
school learning, and until we can get some accountability on
they're in, this is what we're gonna have. We're gonna
have a never any cycle of students not being able
to read or do basic computation, because if you're not

(49:12):
in school, especially in those early years, by the time
you get to middle school. That's why we have to
me that's why I believe we have high schoolers still
reading on first and second reading grade levels because a
lot of them did not come to school and now
there were something that came every day, but when they
were younger and their younger years, they missed a lot
of school, which a lot of those prerequiens of skills are.

Speaker 2 (49:38):
I agree with that. I agree with that. Go ahead, David.

Speaker 6 (49:41):
What the pandemic did? It peeled back layers.

Speaker 2 (49:46):
That's where there's a whole other where the parents could
not put it on the teachers.

Speaker 6 (49:51):
You had your kids at home with your stays or downstairs,
and you did not have to wear withal to go
wake them up. So it's filed the school system fault.
We were getting calls on a pandemic. Oh I can't
log on, Well, no, your child is doing your child's
not turning on a camera, your child's not paying attention.
So who's issue is it now?

Speaker 2 (50:13):
Is it? The school is?

Speaker 6 (50:14):
But as a parent, you're in the house, you cannot
oversee your child, so you know what's going on at home.
It is magnified when it comes to school. So we're
still held responsible for that.

Speaker 8 (50:24):
For that, And David ed Brian had played witness to
me getting cussed out by so many parents because I
was bringing that same thing to their attention. I am online,
your child's computer is logged into my class. He left
his camera on. I'm watching him jump on his bed.
You're in the house with him. I'm watching him in
the reflection of the mirror in his bedroom play his

(50:46):
video game. You're in the house with him, but you're
wondering why he hasn't got this grade. You're wondering why
he hasn't turned in my work. This is part of
your responsibility. But going back to what she'd have said
about the absenteeism and the kids missing out, everything we do.

Speaker 2 (51:02):
Communicates to our children.

Speaker 8 (51:05):
Everything we say, everything we don't say, everything that we
stand up for, everything that we don't stand up for.
It communicates to our kids. By not bringing them to school,
by not making their education a priority, you're instilling in
them that education is not a priority, and they're missing

(51:25):
out on more than just the literacy. They're missing out
on the social skills. They're missing out on the opportunities
to develop their emotional intelligence. And that then turns around.
Now we have a middle school student who has an
undeveloped emotional intelligence, who is not literates. But it's in

(51:48):
middle school where they make that shift.

Speaker 2 (51:50):
So if you fail.

Speaker 8 (51:52):
Kindergarten, that's on your parents, that's not on your baby
that's on your parents.

Speaker 2 (51:55):
If you fail kindergarten, if they say we can't push
your child in first grade, that's on a parent.

Speaker 8 (52:00):
But there comes a point in a child's life where
if they have been instilled, if it's been instilled in
them that the education is a must, there comes a
point between seventh and tenth grade that they have to
become responsible for their education.

Speaker 2 (52:16):
But we're not seeing that anymore.

Speaker 1 (52:17):
And you know what, I'm not seeing that any What
I think is I feel like that is where the
generational disconnect has happened, because you know, as Ebany said,
like a lot of us at this table come from poverty.
Ebany says, she's from this area. I grew up up
the street, like legit. Some of us have come from large,

(52:40):
large families, so we know what it's like to be poor.
Some of us grew up in families with domestic violence,
drug abuse, the same traumas that these kids have.

Speaker 2 (52:50):
Some of us at this.

Speaker 1 (52:50):
Table have experienced. Right, But what is the disconnect? I
believe and this is not to say and this is
not a bashing of parents, but the fact is that
as educators, somebody has to say something and somebody has
to pull the band aid off and expose the wound
for what it is. I feel like there's a generational

(53:11):
difference in the importance of education, and I don't want
to hear anything about it's because the parents are younger.

Speaker 2 (53:21):
My parents were fifteen and eighteen. Okay, I had.

Speaker 1 (53:24):
Grandparents, I had aunts, I had uncles, I had cousins.
I come from a family where education is a priority,
and not all four facets of my family, because everybody
don't feel that way, but there has to be somebody
there who says, hey, look tt you need to go
to school, and you need to go to school every day,

(53:44):
and if you need some help, we're going to find
you a tutor at the school because we don't.

Speaker 2 (53:48):
Have no money to do that.

Speaker 1 (53:49):
But you need to be in something. You need to
be at school because it's important. And in our community,
particularly with black people, like historic, education has always been
at the forefront of our minds because that's your way out,
that's your way out of poverty, that's your way out
of trauma. And I don't know what happened and when

(54:10):
it happened where that is not Education is just not
a priority the way it used to be, and it
throws me off. Another thing that you guys said that
I thought was interesting is when you talk about being
afraid of parents and what's the point and having truancy
cord and what's the point in having discipline disciplinary structures

(54:32):
in place if we can't follow through on them. This
is why kids come to school and run a monk
because we can't follow through on the disciplinary structure or
the structure that's in place for truancy court. Because if
we do, what's the what's the kickback for that? So
the kickback is when you guys talked about like the
government and you know all the plans.

Speaker 2 (54:55):
This this makes me think about.

Speaker 1 (54:56):
Like the the real intention and not to be conspiracy theorists,
but like what is this really about? Because when I
was growing up, you bring a knife to school, your
ass is out. When I was growing up, you cuss
out a teacher, You got to find a new school.
Now kids can punch teachers, cuss at them, kick them,
cuss at people in the building, and they can come

(55:17):
back to school in two to three days. So my
question is are we doing a disservice to these children
by not holding these structures?

Speaker 2 (55:29):
And of course times have.

Speaker 1 (55:30):
Changed, children have changed, but by not holding these structures
in place because of fear of somebody mentioned like the hierarchy.
So the it was you joy, you said, the government
is telling the district, The district is telling the principal
or the CEO. The CEO is telling the principal, principal
is telling the administrators, administrators telling the teachers. The teachers

(55:53):
are relaying the information to the parents, and the kids
don't give a shit. A BYuT what nobody got to say?
So I wonder if not a. I mean, it's obvious
that those plans we can't move forward on making sure
that absenteeism is not an issue the way it is.
I can imagine I remember being a little girl and

(56:14):
my mother walking me to school in the snow, getting
a snowsuit.

Speaker 2 (56:18):
On and boots and wrapping up.

Speaker 1 (56:19):
No, you're gonna walk your ass to school, and you're
gonna come back, and I'm gonna come pick you up
from school. It's like now, kids just don't come to school.
Those things aren't in place because I think personally, for
fear of whoever is over your head, you don't want
them coming down on you. In all of this, like,
how are we still serving children? I think back to
I'm sorry. I think back to.

Speaker 2 (56:42):
Telling my mom I didn't feel well, and she.

Speaker 8 (56:45):
Was like, you taking your ass to school, like you
had to be actively vomiting or stooping on yourself from
going to school. But what I was thinking back to
was something that Brian was saying about the jobs right,
and kids can come out of high school and kids
who had straight a's can go right in with somebody

(57:06):
who was barely passing, and they can get a job
at Amazon, and they can pay their bills, you know
what I mean. They could pay their car insurance. They
can make a way. And I think about my son's right.
So they're in the age range of eighteen to twenty
six and reading recently in some financial stuff that the
median salary of a household to be able to afford

(57:30):
a home has increased by twenty thirty forty thousand dollars.
So my oldest son, who's about the age I was
when me and my husband bought our first home, there's
no way he could afford a home right now, whether
he was working at engineering or working where he is now, Like,

(57:53):
there's no way he would be able to afford it.
So I think back on the effects of everything all
of us have said, and then the balance between why
people think this education is not important. You know, I
think a lot of kids are looking at some of
the adults around them or other kids around them, like, yeah,

(58:14):
my homeboy two years ahead of me, he went to college,
he's got a degree, he's waiting tables right now, and
he's forty thousand.

Speaker 2 (58:20):
Dollars in debt. You know what I mean?

Speaker 8 (58:22):
Where I can go to Amazon, or I can go
to trade school. One of my neighbor kids that me
and my husband liked to joke that we helped raise
he bought his first house at twenty two, but he
went to trade school.

Speaker 2 (58:34):
He became a diesel mechanic.

Speaker 8 (58:36):
There was a great need for diesel mechanics at the time,
and he he has some type of formal education, because
I consider trade school some type of formal education.

Speaker 2 (58:48):
Definitely. He was a student who had an IEP.

Speaker 8 (58:51):
Who struggled with his literacy, but he has made a
way for himself. So I think some of it is
the balance of education. But he came through the educational
system thinking like what this college education. It doesn't offer
me anything, It doesn't offer me a way out, But
something else does.

Speaker 9 (59:25):
I think that when we think about all the things
that we're talking about, a lot of it has to
do with human behavior, and I just don't know if
an institution is designed to manage or navigate human behavior
in the way that we need to when it comes
to the school system, and what I mean by that

(59:47):
is there is such a push for evidence based practices.
So we have you know, we have social emotional learning.
The five tenants of that is decision making, social awareness,
self management, self way awareness. All of these things that
we focus on and we are supposed to focus on
them within the classroom, within social work sessions, which should

(01:00:11):
only be done if there's an impact to a person's
academic performance.

Speaker 2 (01:00:16):
But you're talking about an hour, two.

Speaker 9 (01:00:19):
Hours, three hours out of a twenty four hour period
of time. I truly believe that those who make it
in this urban environment, it's much more than the school.

Speaker 2 (01:00:29):
It's much more.

Speaker 9 (01:00:30):
I mean, they are truly tremendous impacts when it comes
to us in the school, Like each one of you
have amazing relationships with a lot of the students, and
I'm pretty sure that that helps some of our students
to succeed past here. But there is something else that

(01:00:52):
a child needs to be able to live in this area,
go to this type of school in any other school
in urban environments, and be able to make it. And
I don't always know if in the school setting we
can teach that. And I think that going back to
what she'dah said, when it comes to the parent involvement,

(01:01:14):
you know, schools now have become triard centers. It's not
just about academics, it's about now we're a hospital, we're
a mental health facility.

Speaker 2 (01:01:26):
You know, we are holding cells.

Speaker 9 (01:01:29):
We're not even supposed to hold student, but we gotta
hold kids.

Speaker 2 (01:01:32):
We gotta chase kids.

Speaker 9 (01:01:33):
Around, you know, we have to manage the pressure that
comes from the kids, to the teachers and to the
behaviors everybody. Like there are so many levels to how
it affects us on a mental health level, and that
can't be fixed in the school. But we look for
it to be fixed, but it can't be you know,

(01:01:55):
it's not It's just something when I think about the
amount of kids that comes in this building that struggle
with mental health issues that the parent has not connected
them with a psychiatrist, the person the parents have not
connected them with a therapist they don't have a therapist,
but we become their therapists. We become you know, So

(01:02:17):
when you think about what we can do as a school,
what can we do other than what we're doing right,
because some of these things we're not equipped for. Why
should teachers be equipped to be therapists. Why should therapists
be equipped to be hospital triod staff? Right, So, if
you are if you know that your child is actively psychotic,

(01:02:40):
but you send them to school and expect them to
sit in a classroom, and then it's not only the parents,
it's the hospitals. The hospitals are sending kids and adults
outside of the triogen emergency center because they're not sick enough,
but they come back to school and they evidence those behaviors.

(01:03:01):
And so when you think about human behavior and psychiatric instability,
when you think about you know, untreated medical and health issues,
we're dealing with that every day in the school and
we're not prepared for. So it's one of those things
where it's just a cyclical thing where I just feel like,
as a mental professional, mental health professional, I'm going to

(01:03:23):
do the best I can with what I have, but
I'm not promising you that I can fix anything.

Speaker 1 (01:03:28):
You know what we gotta you know what I just
thought about. As educators, we gotta take the approach like
Anita Baker. We come in every day and I'm giving
you the best that I got.

Speaker 2 (01:03:37):
I'm giving you the best that I got. I don't
have anything else. I don't have it. I don't, I don't.
I can't fix your child.

Speaker 9 (01:03:43):
You know you you send them into a math class
or language arts class and they're psychotic, and then I
have to go get them and do what well.

Speaker 1 (01:03:53):
For my and I just just so you guys know,
if any of you guys don't listen, I call my
listeners friends in camp, and there are two things that
I want to define for them. Title What is a
title one?

Speaker 2 (01:04:04):
School? Because Heather you mentioned what a title? You mentioned
title one?

Speaker 1 (01:04:07):
And I want you to tell them what you mean
by psychotic, because I don't think that people who work
with children, who don't work with children, and who don't
have children, or are not directly connected to people who
have severe mental health issues understand when you say psychotic
that we are dealing with children who have severe mental
health issues and their parents send them to school expecting

(01:04:29):
them to be able to sit down for seven hours
and get a traditional education.

Speaker 9 (01:04:34):
Yeah, or children who are exposed to grief and who
are grieving tremendously and they are sent to school. And
some of that might be a good thing because of
the community, but that doesn't it's not always effective when
it comes to coming into an academic environment because now
we're not teaching them, we're caring for them, we're loving them,

(01:04:54):
and that's a difference. So it's kind of like, you know,
it's one of those things where we're not equipped for
what we're doing, but we're all doing the best we
can in the vein in which we're here for.

Speaker 2 (01:05:06):
And it's yes, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Speaker 7 (01:05:09):
I just wanted to share one thing before you, before
you define what title Ie is and what miss miss
Ebany meant by psychotic, I just wanted to say that
we spent a lot of time talking about parents and
their involvement and they're, you know, pushing that child to
be successful in school. But we do realize that a
lot of these parents have their own mental health issues

(01:05:32):
and they have their own sense of value about what
it means to be educated and what an education can
do for you.

Speaker 2 (01:05:40):
So I just wanted to add.

Speaker 1 (01:05:43):
And just real quick to add so many conversations that
I've been privy to over the years with parents, and
my colleague always tells me, you always use that term
as a parent myself. I say it all the time
as a parent myself. And when I speak to parents,
I want them to know that I'm coming from not
just a teacher perspective, but also as a parent and

(01:06:03):
what I would do if it were my child or
my children. And when we talk about parents not understanding
or wanting their child to get that help that they need.
I I have a student now where I believe the
parent has been in denial as far as their development,
and not just literacy or math. I'm just talking about

(01:06:26):
across the board developmentally. And I'm no professional when it
comes to that, but as far as as a parent,
you just have that intuition, you have that feeling when
you look at a student. When I look at a student,
I can just look at them and I can feel
and I can sense that there's something missing developmentally they
don't have. And so there have been times where I've

(01:06:48):
had to spend time at the school convincing a parent
to just give it a try, get them tested. Let's
find out what's going on. It's better, you know, now
they should have already been tested in elementary, but we're
now in middle school. You know, let's get them tested
and they will know what they need, what you need
to do for them so that they won't struggle as
hard or as bad in high school. So we talk

(01:07:09):
about and what Mia just said as far as parents
having their own mental issue, their own baggage, and and
that is that's definitely true. And so some parents either
they don't know what to do because mentally their dream
and also they're being told how to raise their children

(01:07:32):
be a government.

Speaker 2 (01:07:33):
You know.

Speaker 1 (01:07:34):
There there are some things that parents can or cannot do.
When we talk about go back to like discipline and
things like that, there are some things that parents.

Speaker 2 (01:07:42):
Can't do for fear that.

Speaker 1 (01:07:43):
If they if they do, if they do, you know,
then they gotta face CPS.

Speaker 2 (01:07:49):
They got.

Speaker 1 (01:07:52):
Coming or you're or you're messing with their mental health.
You know, you're saying this about the child, you're saying that.
So it's just so many different times of just the
puzzling things are so different. And I remember that whole
that whole CPS thing came out when I was little,
When I was younger, and my mom told me, you
can say if you want to it, don't whoop your
tail when you get home again. You know, if you

(01:08:13):
go to school and tell them that, because my mom
just tearing me up. You go to schools that your
brother tells you, I'm gonna tell you again when you
get home running about.

Speaker 2 (01:08:20):
So you didn't get whoopings she avoided that. Yeah, yeah,
caught and get caught. So yeah, so that's that's the frustration.
It's just it's a lot. So Mia tell us what
a title I school is?

Speaker 7 (01:08:40):
So based on Maryland Department of Education Title one, Part
A of the Elementary and Secondary Education AT, as amended
by the Every Student Succeeds AT provides financial assistance to
local educational agencies and schools with high numbers or high
percentages of children from low income families to helping sure

(01:09:00):
that all children meet challenging academic standards.

Speaker 2 (01:09:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (01:09:06):
So basically, we're supposed to receive extra funding because we
educate students that come from the income family that have
more needs.

Speaker 2 (01:09:17):
They have more needs. So that goes back to.

Speaker 1 (01:09:18):
What I said though, So we receive extra funding because
the students are I'm gonna just say it because the
students are poor or because of poverty. But I wonder
what it looks like Line for Line and elementary school
in West Baltimore, in Detroit, in New Orleans, in Oakland,
in watts California, in Houston, Texas, in Atlanta. I wonder

(01:09:39):
what it looks like Line for Line versus a suburban
county in the same state. Because I can promise you
schools in Moco as they call it, in Montgomery County
and schools in Baltimore City, the funding is not allocated
for the same thing. And something that really bothers me
is that I don't that I wish for I wish that,

(01:10:00):
like all kids had the opportunity to just be free.
Like when I think about uniforms, and I know, David,
you are a stickler for a uniform, and I support
you in it because kids need structure, and that is
the structure that we have here. But when I think
about my goddaughter goes to school in Howard County, she
ain't got wearing no uniform.

Speaker 2 (01:10:18):
She wears whatever she wants to wear.

Speaker 1 (01:10:20):
When I think about kids who go to school, sometimes
my best friend Crystal, she goes and she does this
consulting all over the country, and she tells me about
high schools that she go to where the kids have
on crop tops and sweatpants and flip flops, and.

Speaker 2 (01:10:36):
It's like what they got on.

Speaker 1 (01:10:38):
And then you talk to other educators and they talk
about the issues around the incidents and fighting and all
of that stuff, and.

Speaker 2 (01:10:46):
It's really low.

Speaker 1 (01:10:48):
And I think that it's just like what you said,
Ebney and Mia, And what I believe is that the
school district and school is going to be a reflection
of what's happening in the city. And so Baltimore fortuately
is a clusterfuck. And I'll set it and I will
stand tell what the kids say. Stand on business. I'm
stand on business with that Baltimore is a mess and

(01:11:09):
so as a result, the kids are a mess because
the adults in Baltimore are a mess. So the kids
come to school, they're a mess. And like Evan he said,
we're supposed to fix it. Outside of the mental health.
I'm not even talking about kids who have mental health issues,
even though I think mental.

Speaker 2 (01:11:21):
Health is a spectrum. But outside of people children who
have like.

Speaker 1 (01:11:27):
You know, documented issues, just living in an environment like that,
and then you come to school, it's nowhere to you
don't have anywhere to channel that energy.

Speaker 2 (01:11:36):
Evny K, you tell us what psychotic is.

Speaker 9 (01:11:38):
So when a person is psychotic, it really has to
do with their reality testing and their inability to be
in touch with what is in front of them. So
it could be someone who's hearing voices that are not there.
It could be someone that's seeing things that are not there.
It can also be you know, paranoia, like maybe they're
in fear that someone's trying to get and whether it's

(01:12:00):
the teacher, one of their other students. Some of our
students struggle with walking into a classroom and feeling like
everybody is looking at them, so then they struggle.

Speaker 2 (01:12:10):
With that ten and eleven.

Speaker 9 (01:12:12):
So it really just has to do with their reality testing.

Speaker 2 (01:12:14):
Okay, good.

Speaker 1 (01:12:15):
I wanted to clear that up and just clear that
up so that we understood what those words meant, because
everybody's not educator and everybody's not a mental health professional,
so they may not know. So friends, I can For

(01:12:45):
today's a straight facts question, we are going to answer
a question from a gentleman in New York. Let's get
to it himim, how are you? I hope this finds you. Well,
I'm a listener from New York City and i want
to ask your thoughts on something. I'm not sure how
to put this, so I'm just diving in here. My

(01:13:07):
cousin's kids are wild, they talk back to her, they
are constantly stirring up trouble, and they are frankly a
bad influence on my kids. This past holiday season really
showed that it is reaching a breaking point dealing with
these kids. I continue to discipline my own children in
front of my cousin like I always do. However, my
cousin is not taking the hint. How do you think

(01:13:29):
I should approach talking to her about this to prevent
some kind of explosion? Lawrence from NYC. Well, Lawrence, everybody
does not parent the same You are not going to
make your cousin parent her children the same way that
you do. I think that as someone who is concerned,

(01:13:55):
you can have a conversation with her, but be advised
giving people advice or criticizing people's parenting is a sure
fire way to get into an argument with somebody. Okay,
I get your pain, I feel it. I hate badass kids,
kids that are just bad for no reason, that are
just showing off. And I can't imagine having my own
kids around badass kids and then trying to explain to

(01:14:18):
my kids why they can't act like that when cousin
Mildred's kids are acting that way. One because don't play
with me, okay, one because no. But two just because
cousin Mildred's kids is acting up, that don't mean you
should act up. Here's what I think you should do.
If you love your cousin and you you're close to her,

(01:14:39):
I think you should pull it tor.

Speaker 2 (01:14:40):
To sign and be like, what's up with your kids?
They'd be wilding out.

Speaker 1 (01:14:44):
Be advised, she might not respond well to this, just
to let you know, okay, but I think you can
talk talk to her about it because shout out to
you also for trying to model behavior, because that's big.
That's always a great way to go.

Speaker 2 (01:15:01):
Excuse me.

Speaker 1 (01:15:02):
I'm just over here drinking water because I'm drinking it
from a fifty ounce canister fifty ounce water cup vessel,
and I would like to finish it before I go
to bed tonight, which means I'll get up three to
four times in the middle of the night to go
tink tink. But anyway, I digress what am I doing?

Speaker 2 (01:15:20):
Let's move forward.

Speaker 1 (01:15:23):
I think that if you let her know and let
her know that you're coming from a loving place, because
there's a difference between telling people things and or sharing
you know, your thoughts and in your opinions about things
and then talking at people. Me and my aunt are

(01:15:44):
constantly talking about this. I'll be trying to help my
aunt with this so bad for years.

Speaker 2 (01:15:49):
I love you.

Speaker 1 (01:15:50):
Shout out to my aunt Sheryl, because she is the best.
She's the best aunt ever. She is my Bay because
Bay stands were best aunt ever and I love her AnyWho.

Speaker 2 (01:16:05):
I feel like.

Speaker 1 (01:16:08):
It's a fine craft to learn how to talk to
people and share your thoughts and opinions with people, versus
talking at them and being condescending or being judging or
judging or using judgment statements like it's not a good
idea to go to her and be like, girl, your

(01:16:28):
kids is bad. What you finna do because I don't
even want to bring my kids around your kids because
your kid's so bad.

Speaker 2 (01:16:33):
No, we're not doing that.

Speaker 1 (01:16:35):
You might want to say, you know, sometimes I notice
that you know your kids are you know, having a
good time, enjoying themselves, being rambunctious, however, and then insert facts.
Don't really speak on opinions too much because opinions, you know,
everybody has one. It's like an asshole. So you know,

(01:16:57):
she might feel like you're judging her. He wants to
feel that way.

Speaker 2 (01:17:01):
Trust me.

Speaker 1 (01:17:01):
If you recognize that her kids are bad a shit,
she knows, she know they bad.

Speaker 2 (01:17:08):
Is there somebody there to help her?

Speaker 1 (01:17:11):
I would say even saying something to the kids, not
anything disrespectful, like sit your little ass down before I know.

Speaker 2 (01:17:19):
We're not doing that. No, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, don't.

Speaker 1 (01:17:24):
Do that because that could turn into a straight up yeah, buddy,
That wouldn't be a good idea. But I think if
you tell them, like, hey, maybe pull them to the side,
depending on how old they are, and say, hey, Tate,
you know it's not maybe you should think about, you know,
jumping on grandma's couch because grandma just got that coach
and she really likes that couch. You wouldn't want someone

(01:17:46):
to come over and jump on your bed and maybe
break your toys up. Boom, And if Tate says, get
the hell out of my face, Uncle Lawrence count and
breathe this an exercise of my college boyfriend taught me.

Speaker 2 (01:18:02):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:18:03):
Maybe he was going to therapy when I was in
college and we didn't. I didn't know on the low
that would make sense because he was a little crazy.

Speaker 2 (01:18:09):
Anyway.

Speaker 1 (01:18:09):
He used to say three two one one two three,
What the hell is bothering me? You might have to
breathe like that. But I will just say this much
talking to her, I think is a good idea. You're
already modeling behaviors. And maybe even I was gonna say,
buy her a book, but sometimes buying books is passive

(01:18:31):
aggressive unless you get the book and say, hey, I
notice sometimes that, you know, when we're at Nana's house
or at cousin Whoever's cookouts, like Tata is tearing up
you know, Nana's magazines.

Speaker 2 (01:18:49):
And so I just was thinking. I was at the bookstore.

Speaker 1 (01:18:52):
I saw this book, and I thought about you, and
I just wanted to share it with you, and I
also wanted you. Wanted you to know that if you
follow it up or finish it up with support, if
you need some support, like I'd love to support you,
you know, just be there for her, because being a
parent it can't be easy.

Speaker 2 (01:19:11):
It looks hard to shit to me. It looks hard
to me.

Speaker 1 (01:19:14):
It doesn't really look like something that I want to
do now that I'm forty four.

Speaker 2 (01:19:19):
When I was younger, I was like, Oh, I want
three kids.

Speaker 1 (01:19:22):
Then it dwindled down, Oh I want two kids, and
it was like, I just want one kid. And then
you know they gonna have cousins. Because I got cousins,
and my cousins seven kids, I can just have one
and then I can spoil it and you know I
get it. Nope, didn't happen. Not happening. I ain't got
no kids, I don't have no pets.

Speaker 2 (01:19:39):
It's just me.

Speaker 1 (01:19:40):
Until God sends me the man that he wants me
to spend the rest of my life with it, then
it'll be us. And that sounds good to me. It
does maybe a goldfish or something. Maybe that sounds like
a lot of upkeep too, But anyway, I digress. I'm
on one today. It's probably all that fucking green tea
I've been drinking.

Speaker 2 (01:19:58):
Please good luck with this lawrence.

Speaker 1 (01:20:02):
I would say, be supportive more so than judgmental, because
everybody is facing some kind of battle that they're not
really talking about, and having badass kids gotta fucking suck.
It's gotta suck, especially when the rest of your family
don't have badass kids. So good luck with her, Good
luck with that support her, show her some support on

(01:20:23):
the front end. This is a good question and it's
very different, So I appreciate you, Lawrence, thanks for throwing
something different up in the mix. Way friends in Kim
for today's we Got to Do Better segment. I have
a quote from rock Sy and Gay and it's from
one of her books. I don't remember what the book is,

(01:20:44):
but I want to read it to you. It says,
all too often, let me just before I hold on,
hold on, hold on, hold on, before I go here,
I want you to really listen to this quote. And
when I think about the conversation that I had with

(01:21:05):
these educators during this series, like it really makes me think,
Like this quote like it hit me in the chest
and when I read it, you will understand. And also
even for the straight facts question that I just read,
like if you see something, say something. But anyway, Roxanne

(01:21:28):
Gay said, all too often, when we see injustices both
great and small, we think that's terrible, but we do nothing.
We say nothing. We let other people fight their own battles.
We remain silent because silence is easier. When we say nothing.

(01:21:49):
When we do nothing, we are consenting to these trespasses
against us. Come on, sister, come on, ro Sane, ro Sanne, Roxanne,
come on, Roxanne Gey. I'm gonna read it one more
time because it's beautiful. Are you ready? All too often

(01:22:12):
when we see injustices, both great and small, we think
that's terrible, but we do nothing. We say nothing. We
let other people fight their own battles. We remain silent
because silence is easier when we say nothing. When we
do nothing, we are consenting to these trespasses against us.

(01:22:35):
Come on now, shout out to Roxanne Gey. The first
thing that I want to do is say thank you

(01:22:56):
to God, because God is supreme in my life, and
I recognize and appreciate the grace that God extends to
me every single day of my black ass life. I
want to say thank you to my people. I want
to say thank you to each and every one of
you that have been rocking with me since day one,
day one being actually day one is in February twenty nineteen,

(01:23:18):
but ever since day one of hitting the airwaves, and
that is March the first of twenty twenty. Thank you,
thank you, and thank you. I truly appreciate you guys
for always being here with me. And you know, realistically,
even if you just started listening today, I'm thankful for
you for that as well.

Speaker 2 (01:23:39):
I'm grateful either way you cut.

Speaker 1 (01:23:40):
It up because you ain't got to be here, you
ain't got to listen, you ain't got to be in
the number. I understand that. I am grateful for my family.
I'm grateful for my friends, my friends and kN all
of my supporters, and of course, most importantly, every single
one of you guys that are out there listening. I
love you guys so much, and it is an honor,
a privilege, and a blessing to share my time and

(01:24:05):
energy with you, especially if you keep coming back to
spend time with me. I look forward to the next
time that we get to do this with one another,
and again I say thank you. Now, before you exit
out of whatever streaming service you're listening to, I want
you to stop what you're doing, and if you haven't
done so already, look for the subscriber follow button. Click

(01:24:27):
on it if that's an option on the streaming service
where you're listening. Then I want you to go over
to Instagram follow me at Handy my Purse Underscore podcast.
Then go to Twitter because I'm not going to call
it x and follow me at HMMP Underscore podcast. On Facebook,
just search hand Me my Purse podcast and look on
my Instagram account and you'll see the little swirly thing

(01:24:52):
there that's for threads. Click on that and follow me
on threads. Threads is fun. I repost a lot of
good stuff. I don't really post my own stuff, but
I repost a lot of good stuff because it's a
lot of cool people there. It's like Twitter for Instagram
without elon musk Okay.

Speaker 2 (01:25:14):
Friends in ken I really need you to do me
a favor.

Speaker 1 (01:25:18):
I need you to go to Apple Podcasts or Spotify,
and I need you to rate and review the show,
give it a thumbs up, whatever it is you can
do on those mediums.

Speaker 2 (01:25:35):
Do it for me. It takes two to three minutes.

Speaker 1 (01:25:37):
And shout out to the people on Spotify who have
been leaving reviews or answering the question.

Speaker 2 (01:25:42):
I love that.

Speaker 1 (01:25:43):
I'm gonna read them in the coming episodes. Maybe not
in the next few episodes, but I'm definitely gonna get
to reading them for sure. Friends in Kien, please please, please,
please be sure to share hand me my purse with
your friends, your loved ones, and your enemies, because honestly,
the best way for people to find out about the
show is by you, guys telling them all about it.

(01:26:05):
So tell a friend to tell a friend to tell
a friend. Submit your questions this I need you. I
need this from you, guys. Okay, no on some on
some serious stuff like let's stuff. Let's get real for
a second. I need you, guys to go to Instagram,
look in my bio or Twitter and look in my bio.

(01:26:27):
I need you to click the link in my bio.
It will send you to a page with all of
these hot pink buttons or like tabs. Scroll down. All
those tabs will tell you where you can listen to
the show. Okay, you already know where to listen to
the show, because if you're listening to this, you already
listen to the show.

Speaker 2 (01:26:45):
I want you to.

Speaker 1 (01:26:46):
Go down to where it says submit a question for
straight facts. Okay, click it, and then I want you
to submit a question for straight facts. I need some
new questions, friends and ken, It's time it's a new year,
and I have some but I want some new questions.
I want some new energy. I want some new I

(01:27:06):
want some new questions. I want to hear what y'all
got going on, and I would love to hear from
you guys, because you guys are the ones listening. Send
in some questions, even if you send it in another language,
Send it in in French. Put in a parentheses. This
is in French, but put it in French. I speak French,
so it's okay. Put it in the language. I'll put

(01:27:28):
it in Google and search it. But submit some questions. Okay,
how are we going to do that? You're gonna go
to the link in the show notes or on Instagram
and show. I make it really easy because it's in
the show notes and there's just a link that says
submit a question for straight facts, or do what I
suggested with the link in the Instagram profile and look

(01:27:50):
for the button, and your question may be featured on
an upcoming show. I love you for it in advance.
Why because I believe. Because it's twenty twenty four and
one of my words is believe.

Speaker 2 (01:28:03):
Okay, Okay.

Speaker 1 (01:28:06):
Also remember that show notes are always available in the
episode description. Wherever you are listening to the show, be
sure to take a look at the show notes because
that is where I put all of the links and
other information that I mentioned during the show that you
may want to check out, in addition to some stuff
I'd just like to share sometimes with you guys. Also,
just so you know, the music from hand Me My
Purse is provided by none other than West Baltimore's own

(01:28:29):
Gloomy Tunes. Shout out to Gloomy Tunes and shout out
to West Baltimore. Last, but not least, I want to
give a big old shout out to Rando Banjo in
the Dirty and I look forward to you looking forward
to listening to hand Me My Purse the podcast each

(01:28:52):
and every Tuesday. I'm out this bitch piece. Hand Me
My Purse is a production of iHeart Podcasts. For more
shows from iHeart Podcasts, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

(01:29:12):
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

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No. 79: The Current State of Urban Education - An Educators' Round Table. Part ONE of THREE.

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}No. 79: The Current State of Urban Education - An Educators' Round Table. Part ONE of THREE.