I spent a good portion of a wedding reception last weekend talking to a former teacher of mine dating back to my grade school and junior high days and all of the fun we had. The conversation ran the gamut of everything from his retirement, to old stories and the fact that he was one of three teachers that paddled me during my time in school.

 

We laughed about it and, certainly, all three of the whacks I got back in the day were deserved. If truth be told, I probably deserved a lot more than the three I got during my junior high days. Just the fact that I’m using the term “junior high” as opposed to middle school dates me a bit. And the fact that I’m even talking about getting paddled may seem like a foreign concept to someone much younger than me.

 

While this blog isn’t about paddling or forms of discipline used in the past (oh how I would love it to be and probably will soon), it is about the classroom itself. It is about the frustration that man of the teachers I know that taught me or that I grew up with now in the profession feels on a daily basis.

 

As school is literally ready to begin as early as any time in my lifetime August 13, I thought about the educators. In particular, I thought about the really good educators; the ones who care about their students and aren’t flying out the door as soon as the final bell of the day sounds.

 

I thought about teachers like Beckie Alvaro that just retired from Bridgeport Middle School and taught me back in my junior high days. I thought about Alice DeFazio who just retired from Johnson Elementary. I thought about Loria Reid calling it a career at Simpson Elementary and I thought about BHS Principal Mark DeFazio who’s been in the education business about as long as anyone – save Alice Rowe who may actually have BHS building material in her DNA – and like Rowe is still there.

 

These are all individuals who gave decades to the teaching profession. After so many years, retirement isn’t just a welcome change, it’s one earned. Still, teachers such as those mentioned above that opt to stay for decades may soon be a thing of the pasts. And Principal DeFazio, perhaps as truthful as anyone I’ve talked to in years on the education front, had no problem at all when asked about it.

 

“Is it going to be a rare occurrence to see teachers leaving after decades? I can’t say for sure, but I think it’s going to be the case because I’m here every day and I can see some of the frustration and a lot of it is stuff no one can do a thing about,” said DeFazio.

 

For those that know DeFazio, they know he’s not a fan of government mandates –federal, state or local. In particular, he doesn’t like testing that has been a hot topic for the last couple of years in general and this year in particular.

 

“I can tell you that the most frustration I’ve ever seen comes from the recent testing,” said DeFazio. “Good teachers want to be in the classroom with their kids teaching them. They know you  have to test, but they also know to the extent their testing now is bad for the learning environment. It makes it more difficult to make an impact.”

 

DeFazio said he also knows that the ongoing change in discipline is another problem teachers at every school in West Virginia have to deal with. In his 38 years in the education business he’s seen the change.

 

“There’s no doubt that discipline has changed; none whatsoever. We’ve been placed in a position of being tolerant of things that before you didn’t even think about how to address. You just handled it,” said DeFazio. “The thing I most feel sorry for with our teachers is that in so many instances, no matter how hard they work at their job, if a student doesn’t do well it’s the teacher’s fault. With failing students, you see that more often than not. That wasn’t always the case.”

 

More than once in my 20 years of writing and, in particular, the last 10 years, I’ve been in more than one school in Bridgeport and beyond where I was in administrative offices where doors were closed and students were screaming at their administrators – often with foul language. It happens because administrators’ hands are tied.

 

“I think for the most part at Bridgeport High School the teachers know they have the administrative support when it comes to discipline. They’re dealt with accordingly. When staff knows that, it takes the edge off of them, but discipline is harder now that it was 10 or 15 years ago,” said DeFazio. “Anyone can see it.”

 

What DeFazio said next is why he’s my “go to” on many sources involving education even beyond the fact he’s been teaching since Jimmy Carter was in office. He didn’t just blindly stand behind everyone as educators on white horses.

 

“In our building, we have some great teachers and I’ll be the first to admit we have some that need to make some improvements. I’d be lying to say every teacher is a great teacher. No one can make that statement in any workplace or any school. If they do, they’re lying.” said DeFazio. “In those situations, it’s frustrating for the other teachers that see it, the administrators and anyone else.”

 

DeFazio said those good teachers are often taken for granted. He said the roles they play, and others involved in the learning process at schools, go well beyond just teaching.

 

“You have to be observant of everything. You have to be concerned about kids taking medicine, if a student is being abused mentally or physically, if they’re getting enough to eat, if they’re dressed properly and so much more,” said DeFazio. “They fill a parental role in many cases. If they see a kid come into school on a freezing day with very little protection on, they have to be aware of that and many of them are so bothered by it that they try to handle it immediately. Honestly, sometimes teaching is secondary.

 

“If a kid is under the influence, a teacher can’t ignore that either. It’s a different world and it’s gotten a lot harder,” he continued. “There’s so much more to what a classroom teacher does today that I’m afraid the frustration is going to lead them out the doors early.”

 

DeFazio understands the societal changes that keeps educators on their toes. What he doesn’t like is what he calls the “bureaucracy” involved where he believes kids suffer.

 

“You have to test, you have to have them ready to test and you have to have them technology ready. My goodness is that technology phrase overused and worn out,” he said. “We know technology is important, but that’s not the answer to everything. You want a good kid to come out of school ready for college and ready for the world, let the teachers do what they’re best at. If the politicians would get out of the way, you may still see people who want to give 30 or 40 years to teaching. I just don’t think it’s going to happen in the future.”

 

Editor's Note: Top photo is a sketch representing frustration many educators may feel, while the second photo is of a currently empty school room. The third photo is of a banner congratulating teachers and staff that retired last year from BHS, while Principal Mark DeFazio is shown below as he concluded his 36th year in the business with graduation ceremonies.