This is the first question from page 577...

1. What are the problems here?

-- Anonymous, October 01, 2001

Answers

-previously very successful as an educational innovator and now meeting with hostility as a principle in an inner city school. Low income neighborhood. 70% unemployed. Single parent poor families. High welfare dependance. Young mothers ill prepared to raise children, causes increased stress. Kids come to school hungry. Neighborhood associated with drugs, violence, and petty crime. Violence or threats of violence by parents and openly defiant children are commonplace. Method of dealing with problems is often violence and this violence and defiance is often trnsmitted to school setting. Building drab, unclean, and uninviting. Difficult to attract good teachers. Parents are often drop outs themselves and therefor don't know how to help their children be successful in school. Teachers late for class, unprepared to teach. Senior staff openly hostile and confrontational. Lee has only a vague knowledge of her rights as a principle to enforce standards. Emotional low due to death of her father and the incident with the female custodian. The racial slur

-- Anonymous, October 07, 2001