Substitute Teachers Do Not Matter

Recently I wrote a news reporter about the plight of the substitute teacher and I believe that after a series of exchanged emails I was blown off.

Me:
Currently I work as a substitute teacher and feel that people do not understand the horrible things we go through. Education is a key issue for the current mayor and in my opinion a story about substitute teachers will bring to light how important we are.

Response:
You’ll be happy to know, Education is one of Mayor Dean’s top priorities. In fact, he’s already met with a council he created specifically to address the high drop out rate in Metro Schools.

Is there anything specific that has happened to you that you’d like for us to report? Write me back if you’re willing to talk about it.

In the meantime, I’ll keep my eye out for a story involving substitute teachers. We tend to cover the “news of the day” here rather than just topical issues. But as soon as I see a way to work in a “substitute teacher” in one of the stories here, I will certainly suggest it to management here.

If you think or hear of anything that would help, please contact me.

God bless you for what you do.

Me:
I have notice that some schools have problem with getting a substitute teacher due to behavior of their students and staff. At some schools I question who is at the helm.

There have been times were the support of the staff was not there and quite honestly certain schools are no different than an insane asylum. I have had a child tell me that he got high on MLK day and a continuous list of kids that are statistics in training due to their environment. I have express this on my blog http://kalonji666.blogspot.com/ at times.
There are some schools that I have enjoyed such as H.G. Hill, the staff from top to bottom are very compassionate.

If the Mayor is serious about the drop out rate send substitutes as the eyes and ears because we are considered non threatening and at times a joke. In other words substitutes can get around under the radar.

McCann Alternative Learning Center and Murrell are two schools that I have worked at and believe they need more support because they are on the front of what is going wrong in the school system.The schools are not bad you just feel for the staff because they can only do so much. Again from the top on down I have only good things to say about the individuals that work there.

I believe that "a day in a sub's shoes" would be a interesting angle. I bet you can remember how horrible your peers treated subs when you were in school.

Thanks for the quick response

Response:

It would be hard to convince the management here to do a story without a “news of the day” hook. There are so many things happening in a city this size that daily happenings and events tend to take precedence over all other ideas.
Without a noon-day show with live interviews, feature stories, or extended network… those kinds of stories are hard to fit into a typical newscast.
I don’t necessarily want to discourage you. But I do want to tell you everything you need to do.
If you can think in terms of how a news manager might think. For example, the next time there is a particular incident, whether it’s GREAT or terrible, contact me as soon as you can. That’s one idea.
Also – are there other substitutes that feel the same way you do? There is certainly strength in numbers. And there’s even more strength in an organized group with an agenda.
Think on that a bit…