Getting Lower And Lower

In the course of my career, like other teachers, I have routinely met with parents hundreds times to discuss their children's academics or conduct : either I initiated it or they did. In rare occasions do supervisors get involved : unusual circumstances mostly. This was not the case here : I simply called her parent after a student acted up the very first day of class, but could not foresee what happened next.

On October 1, 2004, at 7 am, as I was driving to school, I called Ms. D.V. to complain about her daughter's behavior in my M$5 class the very first day : 9/28/04.(The school programming was so messy that new classes were open one month into the semester.) We agreed to meet at 8 AM at the General Office. I was planning to have a conference with her and Lisa Marie right there, or at the teacher's lounge. My first class started at 8: 45 (period 2) but I liked to come earlier to tend various things to make my life easier for the rest of the day. She did not show up. I was upset when she came in the middle of instruction : a PA system announcement convened me for the meeting at the principal's conference room. I found that fishy : teachers and parents routinely handle this kind of meeting, not the principal. In the room, were sitting at a large table : Ms. Lowe, parent coordinator, Ms. Adonai, AP, my supervisor, both with yellow pads and pens at ready, Ms. D.V., and L.M., her daughter. I asked Ms. Adonai, what this was about. She would not answer. My instinct was to demand the presence of the UFT chapter leader, Ms. Jimmerson, because I sensed an adversarial climate, but I was somewhat blazé , and besides, curiosity prevailed.
The day before was the second time I had this student in my class ; I never talked , and much less met, with her mother before. The set-up was obvious. Ms. Adonai asked me to explained my complaint, which I did : the behavior L.M. displayed the very first day – loudness, lack of respect, insubordination – was worrisome; that's why I called her mother, hoping to nip it in the bud. As soon as I finished talking, Ms. D.V. jumped to her feet, roaring, leaning over the table, pointing her finger : “YOU ARE A LIAR ! YOU ARE A LIAR ! MY DAUGHTER WOULD NEVER BEHAVE LIKE THAT”. I was flabbergasted : nothing, absolutely nothing justified her outburst ; this was a minor incident, by New York public schools standard, that is. The mother's abusive behavior went on, never interrupted once by either Ms. Lowe, or Ms. Adonai : it was all concerted. In Bill Cosby words : " And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. Then I heard the father talk. This is all in the house ". Upset, I replied : “ You really raised L.M., because that's exactly the way she behaves in my classroom. Even if you felt that I was lying, your outburst was uncalled for. It is unacceptable for you to come here and scold a teacher publicly, in front of your child.” The yelling resumed : “ I WANT MY DAUGHTER OUT OF HIS CLASS. I WILL GO TO THE CHANCELLOR TO GET YOU FIRED.” Supreme irony, L.M. 's name had never been on the attendance sheet, from 9/27 to 11/29. Therefore, officially, she was not one of my students : yet she would come everyday to disrupt a class -- where she did not belong -- , even more so after the noisy meeting with her mother. I asked Adonai many times to send her back to her class : she refused : it was payback time for her. I had no recourse because the principal was not one.The hilarious part of this painful episode came when L.M., who kept attending my class as I said, refused to take the examination on the ground that “my name is not on the attendance sheet.” Consistently, she was not on the Grade Reporting Form. This incident underscored the devastating impact of a bungled school programming : Superintendent Charles Majors knew what he was doing when he fired Wiltshire. The man came back and kept doing the same ; it is now at the borderline of the buffoonery as documented here.