GADFLY ON THE WALL A PU B L I C S C H O O L T E AC H E R S PE A KS O U T O N R AC I S M A N D RE F O R M
S T EV EN S I N GER
GARN PRESS NEW YORK, N Y
Published by Garn Press, LLC New York, NY www.garnpress.com
Copyright © 2017 by Steven Singer Garn Press and the Chapwoman logo are registered trademarks of Garn Press, LLC All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please contact Garn Press through www.garnpress.com. Book and cover design by Benjamin J. Taylor/Garn Press Cover Image by Pana Vasquez/Unsplash First Edition, November, 2017 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017948574 Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Singer, Steven. Title: Gadfly on the Wall: A Public School Teacher Speaks Out on Racism and Reform / Steven Singer. Description: First edition. | New York : Garn Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: LCCN 2017948574 | ISBN 978-1-942146-67-4 (pbk.) | ISBN 978-1-94214668-1 (Kindle ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Racism. | School choice. | Charter schools--United States. | Educational tests and measurement. | Teaching. | BISAC: SOCIAL SCIENCE / Discrimination & Race Relations. | EDUCATION / Education Policy & Reform/Charter Schools. | EDUCATION / Standards (Incl. Common Core). | EDUCATION / Professional Development. | EDUCATION / Aims & Objectives. Classification: LCC LB1027.9 .S45 2017 (print) | LCC LB1027.9 (ebook) | DDC 371.3-dc23. LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017948574
“To sting people and whip them into a fury, all in the service of truth.” Socrates
THE LONGEST LASTING LESSON – A THANK YOU TO ALL THE EXCELLENT TEACHERS I’VE EVER HAD
They say teaching is the one profession that creates all the others. That teachers affect eternity – no one can tell where their influence stops. It’s certainly true in my life. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without a string of excellent educators. For better or worse, I am the product of decades of firstrate instruction and inspiration. There are so many teachers who made a profound impact on my life. Mr. Mitchell taught me how to express my opinion, and 218
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how to listen to others and consider their point of view before responding. Ms. Robb taught me how to organize my thoughts so they would make sense to someone else. Mr. Geissler taught me how money and politics work together. Ms. Neuschwander taught me the value of a good story. And there are so many more. I wish I could remember them all. If we’re honest, everyone has had a plethora of powerful pedagogues in their lives. Their names are legion – even if we can’t remember most of them. During one particular Teacher Appreciation Week, the one that kept popping into my head was Ms. Zadrel. She was my third grade teacher. I don’t remember what she looked like. I don’t remember most of her lessons. I’m not even sure if I’m spelling her name right. But I do remember how she organized her class. The room was a separate town called Zadrelville. The rows of desks were streets. Each student had a job and we earned play money. We could send each other letters, play the lottery, vote for class mayor – almost everything you’d do in a small town. Everyday tasks were jobs – emptying the pencil sharpener, passing out papers, cleaning the blackboard, etc. And me? I wrote the newspaper. “The News of 201” it was called.
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It was a fairly gossipy rag. Headlines included things like who liked whom, if someone got paddled in gym, and which was better – Indiana Jones or Star Wars movies. I made the paper myself, ran it off on the copier and delivered it to subscribers’ desks. I published about once a week. Any day a new edition would roll hot off the press – and it actually was warm – everyone in the class had to have one. It was essential reading. There even may have been a few fights caused by some of my articles. “You like Beth!? She’s got cuties!” I never got a chance to see Ms. Zadrel’s lesson plans. I’m not sure exactly what she had in mind for us from this classroom management model. But I learned a lot. Perhaps the longest lasting lesson was about myself. I learned how much I love being creative and how important it is for me to impact people’s lives. Would I have become a teacher, myself, if I hadn’t had this experience? Maybe not. I’d always enjoyed writing, but seeing such a demand for my work probably changed my life. I wasn’t just writing for ME. I was writing for an audience. I gauged what the class wanted from a newspaper and provided it. My articles may have caused a stir, but no one ever unsubscribed. By putting all that everyday ephemera in one place, we all learned much more about each other. I loved it so much that when I went to fourth grade, I kept up the paper. It didn’t have quite the same magic in a class that wasn’t its own self-contained city, but I’d already been bitten
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by the bug. You might say that both my blog and this book are really just a continuation of that adolescent newspaper I started in Ms. Zadrel’s class. I’ve been a professional journalist, a freelancer and now a blogger. But I’m really just writing a classroom newspaper for people who are interested in the next edition. Ms. Zadrel is long retired. I don’t know what happened to her or if she’s even still around somewhere. I don’t know what she’d say if she could read this book. But I know what I’d say to her. Thank you. With all my heart – thank you.