This article was written by our associate and is intended to remind us all that, as educators,
our directive to promote truth and understanding never changes.
A new year begins: On the first day of school in our small town, I arrived to my classroom just after the first day’s light. The hot August air hung heavy in the un-air-conditioned turn-of-the-century building. There was much to do before welcoming parents and children. Because many parents did not believe it was
necessary to come out of their rural hide-a-ways to pre-register their children for kindergarten in the spring, the first day of school was always hectic.
The circus unfolds: As the first parents arrived, I began my one-woman show. After forms were completed, I met with each parent to go over legal issues: address and phone numbers where the parent could be reached, a copy of the state birth certificate, the child’s social security card, etc. Some parents could not read. Some tried to present a copy of
the hospital birth record as a legal birth certificate. They had to be sent home or to the county office for the real document. The birthday deadline for a child's
admission into the public school kindergarten was September 1st, so there were
always a few disappointed or irritated parents who had to take their child home for
another year.
Before long the room was swarming with parents, children
clinging to grandmothers’ skirts, aunts searching for proper identification, and
general chaos. The system truly needed
reform, but the principal saw no need to change what had always been done. By 10am the last parent had left and I finally had
a chance to welcome the students properly. Our first birthday: I temporarily
filed the documents and during the next few weeks concentrated on teaching 27 children the
content and skills of their missed preschool education. The first birthday we celebrated was Matthew’s. He turned 5 on September 1st which made him the youngest child in the
class. And although he was a quiet, shy boy, he seemed to fit in
well. When I announced to the class that it
was his birthday, he didn’t smile. We
celebrated his special day anyway.
One mother's legacy: As our first 6 weeks came to a close, so did registration. The late stragglers had arrived and our official class roll was complete. I went through each child’s final records and prepared to file them in the school office. When I reviewed Matthew’s birth certificate, I noticed that
his birth date was written in one digit, not two. September 1, not 01. I looked more closely. The date was not centered. Liquid paper had been used to blank out the first digit. Then the photocopy I now held was made. Matthew was not born on the 1st, he was born on the 11th or 21st.
I went to the office to register a complaint. Although Matthew was a sweet boy, I would be doing
him a disservice if I allowed falsified records to mark the beginning of his school
career. The principal was not as convinced. He stalled on any action for 6 more weeks. In the end, the mother was discretely asked to
remove her son. She then took him to 3 other
county schools in the area before she accepted responsibility for his care another year.
My wounded soul: The incident was upsetting. I spent my energy every day trying to level the
educational playing field. Children who, in
August, did not even know their own names, would walk out of my classroom in May able to
read. Teaching was not my job, it was my
passion, my mission, and my all-consuming service to mankind. It deserved only the highest standard. One that called for uncompromised integrity. That year, my ethics had been violated.
Matthew's wounded soul: Matthew was wounded,
as well. He received seeds of deception. He
overheard conversations about misdeeds. He misinterpreted being
expelled. Did
he grow to become a wholesome young man, or did he follow his mother’s example and
skirt the law? Is he now a man of integrity
or is he a cheat and a liar? I moved away years ago and will never
know the man he became. However ... |