Stereotypes tend to be self-perpetuating. When one assumes another group is lazy and idle, he/she will tend to respond in a similar way…with low expectations and prejudice and even hate. The bigotry of low expectations is something we need to bury. When one has a negative mind set, a lack of communication is almost inevitable.

Again, it would take a concerned professional to look at each case separately.It would take a caring professional to ” create a challenging, demanding, yet nurturing and supportive environment ” as indicated by Michel Lomas UNCF, for their students.

New York City pulled out all stops to afford its earliest immigrants and their descendants, an opportunity to succeed. During that time,the CUNY colleges were tuition free and New York City Public Schools were among the best in the country.

Today, the schools have become pauperized. And with Tweed’s massive budget cuts, cuts to the finances of our schools have cut the professional staff down to the bone. Furthermore, the resources that are needed are absent. This forces concerned teachers to use out of pocket non-reimbursable funds to make a classroom effective. This also forces these teachers to become even more creative as they write proposals to fund their educational initiatives which aid their students.

Educator Mary McLeod Bethune said: “Invest in a human soul. It may be a diamond in the rough.”She knew that our students, like diamonds, come in every hue…lest we forget.

In many cases the parents in inner city communities are trying to survive. And unlike the nuclear families of the past, the concept of family is also changing. And with that change, the responsibility of caring for children is not necessarily that of an adult. Often an older student is responsible for his/her siblings.

Educators who were brought up in a middle class home, might assume that each family in his/her school community has an alarm clock and is fortified daily by three balanced meals. But this was their reality before they became educators and it is not the reality of many of their students.

Many educators may not have visited a city shelter or a student’s home. Furthermore, many educators may not be aware that minors are exploited after school. We have asked: “Have you listened to a teacher? ”
But have we listened to a child?

If we are to ameliorate societal ills, the intervention of guidance counselors, attendance teachers, social workers, and caring professionals is sorely needed. “We must have all hands on deck.” In that way we can break the cycle of failure which has led to a high drop out rate among the neediest students. It will also end the school-to-prison pipeline: a horrid systemic phenomenon in public schools throughout our country.

Randi Weingarten is correct.
“There are currently 396 attendance teachers responsible for monitoring the attendance of 1.1 million students in 1,500 schools, and many are spread extremely thin being responsible for numerous schools across several boroughs. Making matters worse, 13 of them who could be doing their jobs are among more than 200 attendance teachers, guidance counselors and school social workers assigned to an Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR) pool of educators who lost their permanent positions because of schools closings and now fill day-to-day vacancies for teachers out for health reasons or maternity leave. Given the need outlined in the New School report, those ATR educators should have permanent assignments. Also, hiring more attendance teachers, counselors and socials workers would help address issues that drive so many students to skip school and eventually drop out.”

As a teacher it is your responsibility to ensure that children are getting to schools each and every day. At the very least, you can make a wake up call to the home of each child every morning.

The administration does its part by seeing that the children are fed when they arrive as well as at lunchtime.

You can at least make the wake-up calls.

When students do not attend school, it is the RESPONSIBILITY of the PARENTS to ensure that their children are getting to schools each and every day. It means making sure that their children are UP, ready to go, prepared for school. Ensuring that they are getting on the bus, actually ATTENDING classes by establishing communication with the child’s teachers and school staff.

As teachers, we do not have the ability or power to go to the student’s homes, and drag students to school, particularly in a large city such as New York. Teachers DO call home ( most times, cannot make a connection with a parent/guardian), due to disconnected phones, parents that are NOT home for whatever reason, or simply not having the correct information given to us by parents/guardians.
We , as teachers, are required to call on the FIRST day of an absence and to continue until the student is tracked down. If we want absenteeism to decrease, I say- bring back the TRUANT officers, and give these people the responsibility to bring errant children into the schools, and work with the parents to ensure that the children STAY in school. Each school should have an attendace office, where the sole responsibility of the staff is to call each day, to find out where the students are, and the reasons why they are absent. If the parents are not involved, school absenteeism, will continue to stay at the rates they currently are. After all, shouldn’t the PARENTS of these children take an interest in what is happening with their children, rather than shifting ALL responsibility onto the schools?