“The whole world is watching, but nobody cares.” In the 2022/2023 school year, my classroom assignment was to teach Kindergarten and 1st grade self-contained special education. Self contained meaning there are no mainstream kids in the class. It’s only special ed kids. This class, the previous year, struggled. That would be putting it mildly. It was organized chaos, the stereotypical inner city special ed class. Many of the students spent more time at the security desk than they did in the classroom.

Last year was the exact opposite. I went into the class, established order, established structure and accountability, and everyone thrived. The person who thrived most of all was me. I thrived because of the students. I set up a system, but systems are set up every day, they fail every day. A system is only as good as the people using it. I set up a system and the kids learned. Reading and math scores went up across the board. Kids were happy and their parents were happy. The students didn’t thrive because of me, they thrived because of themselves. Because of their parents. I didn’t give them anything, it was already there. I didn’t put intelligence or brain power into them. I didn’t put empathy and kindness into them. I didn’t put the will to learn and be successful into them. All of that was already there. I merely provided them an environment that allowed all of that to come out.

Two of the kids, who had struggled greatly the previous year, were moved out of self-contained and into a co-taught class for this school year. That was a miracle that rarely, if ever, happens. I was a great teacher, they were great students. It’s taken me my entire life to be able to say that about myself, but I was. It was the most fulfilling year of my life. I accomplished this with administrators breathing down my neck and other teachers looking to sabotage me. I was reported to administration, by a fellow teacher, in September. The nonsense started as soon as the school year started. Teacher reported me for an interaction with a 5th grade student. A young man who I taught when he was in second grade. A boy who I made believe he was incredible and smart and could do whatever he set his mind to do. This woman reported me for absolutely no reason. Nothing happened. Nothing became of it. Except that it put distance between me and the student. Out relationship was broken. I’m sure he felt some time of guilt and things just weren’t the same. Probably never will be. Maybe that’s why she did it, her own insecurities were more important than a relationship between a student and a father figure he looked up to. Because he didn’t have any father or father figure in his life. The same way I had no father or father figure in my life. I know the pain that comes from that and that’s why I try to make sure no kid has to feel that, whenever I can.

I am writing this the day after four NECSD board members submitted their resignations. Those four board members merely wanted to make things better for the kids in Newburgh. Their resignations are catastrophic and heart breaking. If you don’t understand this then you aren’t paying attention or don’t care. Their agenda was to make things better for all of our kids. Now they are gone.

How many young lives will it take? I would really like to know the answer to that question. How many young lives will it take before someone, in a position to do something, actually does something? The help, this school district needs, will not come from anyone inside this city. That is obvious to everyone. So how many wasted lives, destroyed lives, lives that never had any opportunity to succeed, will it take, before someone, outside these city limits, comes in here and helps these children?

The Department of Education, and the politicians, don’t do anything, because of classism and lack of courage. The kids suffering are poor. Their parents, 99% of whom are black or Hispanic, have no power. They can’t cause any problems for the people in power, so they are ignored. They all know exactly what’s going on in Newburgh and they don’t do a damn thing about it. Because they are cowards and because they don’t care enough to do anything. “The whole world is watching, but nobody cares.”