If a Teacher Screams and Nobody Hears it, Does it Make a Sound?

I’m not human to these people. I’ve honestly not worked anywhere where I felt this utterly expendable.

Before I provide a representative example, let me answer those who think that “teachers just don’t want to work one minute past contract time.” I have worked so many hours outside of contract time that I’m burned out. Besides, this has nothing to do with working past contract time, but about being asked to do it under threats, coercion, with less respect than anyone, really, should be treated. ~even though i am just a high school teacher~

So, here is a play, inspired by ______________ High School’s administration, “Demoralization in Four Acts.” the Spark Notes version:

Setting

Suburban high school. The American South. This school has always paid teachers who volunteered by the hour to sell tickets at sporting events.

Characters

• Taylor the Teacher: A dispirited, hurting teacher and the main character ~of course~
• Admin: Faceless, but not nameless, capricious ruler of a small kingdom important only to those forced to be affiliated with it.
• Athletic Director: In charge of all sports in this kingdom, largely unknown to Taylor, but probably one of the queen’s minions ~always safe to assume this~
• Mrs. X: Heroic fellow teacher in the school, also dispirited and hurting. Mrs. X sees the light at the end of the tunnel, however, because she has already found another teaching job out of state.

Themes

• The long-term effects of plantation culture in the American South.
• Absurdism: efforts of teachers to find meaning in the system will ultimately fail.
• Facing the unknown.

Summary

Act I: Admin announces that the school will save money by making teachers serve game duties for free instead of paying someone to do it ~or getting the athletic booster club to do it~ Taylor isn’t thrilled, but suggests to admin over the summer that AT LEAST if teachers could pick their own days to serve, it would boost morale and make the task seem less of an imposition. Admin decides this is too much trouble. Assigns game duties according to its own whim and then harasses people who can’t make it.

Act II: Taylor is assigned game duty for Friday, February 8. She receives an email from the Athletic Director early in the week informing her that since this is a big game, he needs her in the gym at 4, but that she will definitely be out of there by 7:30, because the game will sell out, even though the duty is scheduled until 8:45. Contract time ends at 3:45. The Athletic Director is oblivious to the fact that teachers, being biological organisms, need to eat dinner, or take a break at all after working since 8 a.m. and having a 25–minute lunch. ~through which we’re often expected to work, and during which we are NEVER allowed to leave the building.~ Taylor wonders longingly about “life out there” where the normal people work. Do they get breaks during the workday? Don’t normal people get paid for working overtime? If not, don’t they at least expect to be given time to eat? ~since taylor has sixth and seventh period planning, she absolutely intends to leave campus for some food during that time, but that’s immaterial since she’s breaking the rules by doing so and thereby jeopardizing her contract, and since most teachers don’t have that opportunity.~ Taylor is bewildered, but resigned.

Act III: Since Taylor has already had her contract threatened for taking too many sick days ~which the district gave her, most of which she has doctor’s notes for~ she’s trying like hell not to miss any school. She’s getting increasingly sick as the week goes on, so she leaves sub plans on Thursday, just in case. She didn’t call the system, however, until 2:30 in the morning, in an effort to make it ~like a good girl.~ She calls the system in the morning repeatedly to make sure there’s a sub coming in so none of her colleagues have to cover her classes. At 6:30 in the morning the system hasn’t found a sub, so she gets ready anyway. She’s on the way to the school when she calls again, it’s now 7:30, to see that a sub has been found. So she goes back home and sends the required email to admin, and sends it also to the Athletic Director with the statement that if he really, really needs her, she’ll come in ~since there are no subs for game duty~ but that she is sick. It includes a specific request to let her know something. The Athletic Director responds by forwarding the same email he sent earlier in the week to Taylor AND all the others on the original list, with no mention of Taylor’s illness. Later in the day, he sends a voice mail to the same effect, which comes to Taylor at home via email.

Act IV: Taylor drags her ass out of bed and drives the gas out of her car to go to this duty, taking the Athletic Director’s cryptic communications as a passive-aggressive attempt at an answer. ~which she’s still not convinced they weren’t~ When she arrives, another teacher points out to AD ~go mrs.x~ that she doesn’t want to catch Taylor’s illness and can Taylor please go home? Athletic Director says he never read Taylor’s email from earlier. ~why would he?~ Taylor goes home, but waits to see if there are repercussions from this. They may take months to surface. Going in each Monday becomes harder and harder. She goes home, sleepy from cold medicine, and has dreams of pushing carts of basketball tickets up a large mountain of dog poop.

Analysis

Although Taylor has worked at this school for almost five years, and has up until now, received praise from her supervisors, in addition to glowing evaluations and letters of recommendation, she is stunned that the tables can suddenly turn on her. She realizes that in an absurd environment such as this, she will never be safe. When supervisors are accustomed to treating people like machines or other dispensable items ~kleenex? toilet paper?~ there can be no true loyalty or security, conditions Taylor has always believed were necessary for a successful learning environment. The teacher realizes that nothing she does will ever suffice, or even matter, since her requests both to admin and to the Athletic Director went completely unheard. She must make a choice between facing the unknown and leaving that place, or meaningless repetitive gyrations to please the unpleasable under conditions that are completely meaningless.