Its been 15 glorious days since the end of yet another school year for NYC public school students and teachers. This summer marks the end of my 16th year teaching middle school, and I have discovered that I absolutely need my summer breaks, every single one. People chide us constantly. I can literally hear the kiss of their teeth when you try to explain why teachers need their summer breaks to recuperate. The response is sometimes a comparison of calculated time worked from 8 to 3 as opposed to a conventional 9 to 5.
First of all, there is nothing conventional about being a public school teacher. Public School means that the building is open for attendance to anyone’s child that is a part of the public. The homeless housee, molestation victim, orphan, autistic, dyslexic, anorexic, ballistic, bulimic or even school phobic.
They are all welcome to enter through our wide open doors, bringing with them their varied experiences and unique family dynamics, and we are expected to provide them all with the same quality education. There is something so noble and egalitarian about the endeavor. After all, the public school model, fathered by Horace Mann, is that it “was the best means of achieving the moral and socioeconomic uplift for all Americans.” Emphasis on ALL. As teachers, we outwardly face this renewed task every September to teach all students everything they need to know in 180 days with vigor. However, inwardly we might ask ourselves the question, is that even humanly possibly?
The challenge is both exciting and yet daunting. You begin the school year in September, armed with high hopes and expectations that you can actually achieve this goal. Your mind and bag is brimming with lesson plans, trip ideas, manipulatives, activities and supplies.You might even have convinced yourself to try out a few of the new protocols you picked up during that 3-day professional development course, mandated by your principal that you attend in the middle of August. However, as the months dissolve one into the other, January and February begin to mock your resolve.
You might now find yourself no longer asking the question, “can I teach it all” to simply, “how can I teach?” A slow creep of exhaustion consumes you mentally and physically. There is also the realization that the school year is barely half over and the mandate only gets stronger as your ability to execute weakens. For a lot of your students (and this entirely depends on the grade) they have also begun a slow process of shutdown, and by the end of the dreaded state exams, the shutdown is total and complete.
What arises next is the conflict of educating over enforcement, mentoring while managing behavior, and of course teaching while constantly on the look out for the inappropriate use of technology. Students at times test the boundaries of respect, assured that their actions will be met with a careful and calculated administrative response. There are drugs, sex and rock and roll around a lot of corners, up and down stair cases. The increase of hormonal driven conflict competes with lessons within the classroom and continued afterschool on the block, down the street or maybe even in the local pizzeria.
If you are at this point feeling the drain of my blog about life as a public school teacher, then you might finally be ready to reconsider your opinion about why we need summer breaks. You might even experience some concern that the remaining 53 days is not enough to recuperate from the 180.
East Flatbush Writer 
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