For this feature article, I interviewed two former teachers of the Philadelphia School System, Jeanine Jones and Awanda Fairweather and spoke with them about what inspired them to teach, their experiences, and why did they decided to stop teaching for the Philadelphia school district. While Jones decided to teach Pre-K for Delaware County, Fairweather had taken a different career path to become a wholesale/retail manager for a local water ice and dessert business.
Jones began as a substitute teacher for elementary and middle school classrooms in 1998 and Fairweather began teaching special education at G.W. Pepper Middle School for 6th, 7th and 8th graders in 1999. Fairweather taught special education at Pepper for six years and Jones substituted for three years and moved on to teach GED courses and adult literacy at Temple University for the next 9 years, before going back to teaching in the public sector.
Jones also acquired another position as an evaluation specialist screening children for the detection of possible developmental delays. “My years as an evaluation specialist caused me to leave the classroom for about three years to get my feet wet in the world of early intervention. I have since returned to the classroom due to funding limitations placed on various programs throughout my career.”
Both individuals are products of the Philadelphia public school system and attended state universities. Jones is a graduate of Cheyney University and received her degree in education and Fairweather, graduate of Widener University, received her degree in English. I began both interviews by asking what inspired them to go into the field of education.
“I always carried a strong desire to be an educator,” Jones said. “I enjoy helping individuals achieve goals through broadening their educational experiences and I have always remained grounded and planted in the field of education.”
“The inspiration to teach came from my love for knowledge, the era in which I grew up and the admiration I had for my teachers, their dedication and passion for making a difference in the lives of children,” Fairweather said. “Therefore, I made a commitment to help establish a solid foundation for our children to build upon in order to lead a productive and prosperous life of good choices.”
In accordance with the issues that are recent with the public schools, such the large classroom sizes, lack of resources and teachers, inadequate funding, etc., they both discussed the weaknesses they discovered while running their classrooms.
“The school had a negative reputation regarding student behavior and lack of parent participation,” stated Fairweather. “As a result, there was extreme teacher and staff frustration and negativity. The environment was cold and not very secure; there was no real school spirit or motivation to participate in extra-curricular activities. The students had very little respect for their institution of learning.”
Jones said, “A weakness I discovered about teaching is that it can sometimes become challenging when teaching multi-level classes. It can be done; however, it just takes more work on your part as the teacher for planning as well as implementation.”
Fairweather also spoke about the student-teacher ratio as another disadvantage to public schools. “The classrooms were overcrowded, with limited and updated textbooks and resources. Teachers had to come out of pocket for supplies and materials to help make the classroom setting to conducive to learning.”
Both Jones and Fairweather agreed that teaching is a rewarding experience with the right support from all levels of the district, but yet there are many struggles associated with developing an efficient and grounded classroom when there is lack of resources, stability, and funding.
Fairweather discussed her obligation of teaching life skills to her students and what difficulties she encountered. “I was very disturbed by the fact that out of 15 students with disabilities, which included Down syndrome, ADHD, Autism, and Cerebral Palsy, only one was assigned a TSS worker for learning support. As a result, both I and my classroom assistant were constantly overwhelmed and performing duties that should have been provided by one on one behavior and learning support.” Because of being overwhelmed and not fully supported by social agencies that specialize in aiding children with learning disabilities, Fairweather made numerous recommendations to school officials and social workers as well as the school’s special education liaison. “The concerns were discussed and noted during both staff and district meetings; unfortunately, there were no changes specific to concerns or requests.”
From her experience subbing elementary and middle school students, Jones discovered that most of the students were unprepared to move to the next grade. “Some students were not reading or writing on their grade level. The material presented to me in classrooms where I would sub for more than week, the students either found it difficult to understand it or didn’t find it interesting.”
Jones and Fairweather agree today’s public school system can be saved, if officials take the time and money to rebuild the schools. “I believe the allocation of funds should be based upon each school individual needs to reach standards of excellence,” said Fairweather. “Students need to be prepared to operate and utilize today’s technology as well as be exposed to the arts, which I believe would create a sense of balance and purpose.” She goes on to say that teachers need to feel safe in the classroom, have smaller classes and be compensated according to their commitment and responsibilities.
“There is hope for Philly’s schools, but the school officials have to be serious and dedicated to rebuilding and revamping the entire school system,” said Jones. “Teachers need the support of not only the district, but parents, community leaders, and other local officials in order to run comfortable and performance-driven classrooms.” Without support, the schools will continue to lack what they need.”
While Jones has gone back to teaching in another county, where she resides, and really hasn’t kept abreast of the current tax issues that are being debated to close the Philadelphia school’s budget gap, I asked Fairweather do she agree with the soda tax and increase of the property tax, her reason for leaving the field of education, and would she considered returning.
“I do not agree with the soda tax or increase of property tax; clearly these are acts of desperation to get a return on two sure things: soda comes in so many forms and with many people, has become a beverage of need, not choice. It’s almost safe to say for many, soda has become an addiction and a few cents to the individual will not be a detourant.” “In regards to property tax, people have to have a place to live. That’s a no brainer. I don’t pay the increase, the state takes my house.”
“I moved on to another occupation because I was ready to expand my family and live a new experience. I do continue to work with youth through different organizations and my church; it is a passion that I will always welcome in my life. I would consider teaching again in a different capacity, under the right circumstances.”
