The report highlighted in this New York Times article is damning evidence of the chaos and mismanagement of at least one psychiatrict ward at a municipally run hospital. Although the conditions are more stark, it reminds me of the reason I became a teacher in the first place. It reminds me of how understaffed, overwhelmed and undertrained many school administrators and teachers feel in our least-served communities.
The hospital is glad to report that wait time in the psychiatric emergency room is down from 27 hours to 8. That's like saying that 10 parents attended, or even knew about, the last parent meeting instead of 5. Attendance doubled!
Have no doubts--parents care about their children. Schools need to take responsibility for informing and engaging them in appropriate ways.
The report cites a pair of hospital police's brief interaction with a dying patient in the emergency room waiting room. It may not be obvious, but the observation in the report is tragically similar to a lack of consistency among adults at our schools.
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Thanks for the advice about school visits - I've been on one this year and it was very refreshing. Do you have any suggestions for where to go?
ReplyDeleteWhat are you looking for? It seems you are in TFA from your blog, and that's my circle as well although I also have other charter schools that I'm familiar with. Give me a grade level range and an educational approach and I'll tell you what I think of a few good schools.
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