Yesterday we had lunch with our friend Dave Horn, who lives with his wife Jen out in Arizona since last summer. In upbeat way, he explained a pretty challenging environment that they're working in.
- Shortage of statewide funds has resulted in his workload expanding from Social Studies to Language Arts.
- Three prisons are in the vicinity.
- The children are heavily minority: Hispanic, African-American, Native American. The parents often show bitterness toward the "white" orientation of the textbooks on history; the students are prone to physical fights with each other.
- Dave estimates that 85% of his time is spent disciplining the class. That leaves about 10 minutes in every hour for actual teaching.
- Children of migrant workers leave for months at a time, as the parents bring them to Texas or Florida to help farm crops.
- Children openly admit their drug use or illegal immigration status.
- The person who hired Jen left shortly thereafter, and doesn't provide much support in disciplining the kids.
On the upside, the parents are taking an interest in their kids' performance. Still, it's a quick reminder how easy even a "stressful" 9-to-5 job really is.
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