All I Never Knowed by Stephanie Giese

Author:Stephanie Giese
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mental health, parenting, special needs, motherhood, trauma, autism spectrum disorder, coping strategies
Publisher: Stephanie Giese

Chapter 23

September 2014

The York City School District was hiring, and I was right. I found a job easily: sixth grade math. It was cheaper to hire in-home help than it would have been to pay for three kids in daycare, and we are thrilled Lindsay accepted a position as our nanny. She is with Penny all day and responsible for getting Nick and Abby to and from school.

The city pay rate for teachers is much higher than the county, so I am making more money here than I would anywhere else, but working in the city is challenging. Pennsylvania is a commonwealth and each small municipality is responsible for itself. We set our local school budgets according to property values and charging a percentage for school tax. The high tax bill that is still sitting on my counter waiting for this paycheck means that my own children can attend the highest-rated school district in our area. I do not have to buy Nicholas or Abby school supplies because every year their crayons and notebooks are supplied by their school. My district is the one that was able to continue offering Nicholas special education services, even when he did not qualify. Most districts would not have the funding available to offer services to kids who do not “need” them. There were no positions available in my home district because full-time job openings for teachers tend to only pop up if someone retires. When there is an opening, it is likely to go to a candidate already well-connected with the school board.

In areas like York City where property values are low or there are quite a few vacant lots, there is less money collected through the taxes and the schools are less desirable. Those neighborhoods are also the places that have the highest rate of students who need free and reduced lunch, and they have the lowest teacher retention rates (which is why they pay us more, it’s an incentive to keep us here, despite the extra challenges), and lowest student test scores. Hunger and poverty make it difficult to do well on standardized tests. Low test scores lead to even less funding and lower evaluations for teachers, regardless of how well they actually teach. That means very few people want to work here, and it is easy to find a job. It also means there is no money in the school budget for supplies, so I purchase all of my own materials for our classroom right down to the pencils and staples, and I ask the church to donate copy paper.

September twelfth is my thirtieth birthday, and I am spending the morning doing the mandated district testing with the sixth graders in the computer lab. It’s almost lunchtime. There’s a throbbing pain my right temple and the florescent lights are killing me. Finally, the three hours of testing are over. On my way back to my classroom during my planning period, I stop by the nurse’s office. It’s only the second full week of school, and she doesn’t know me yet.

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