Angels, Devils, and the Outrage Against a Substitute Teacher

Yesterday afternoon I heard about a news story concerning a substitute teacher at Awtrey Middle School in Kennesaw, Georgia.

According to the news, a substitute teacher had made a listing of her students, and she went as far as classifying them as “angels,” “devils,” or “mixed.”  The students were outraged, at least one of them took a picture of the list, and then it reached the parents and the news stations.  The substitute teacher was fired.  Meanwhile, some of the parents were concerned about this being a racist incident as the “devils” were black students.

That’s how it was being initially reported.  CBS News basically called it flat-out racism.

Overseas in England, the Daily Mail website also heavily implied that this was a racist issue.

Of course, that’s not what really happened with the listing.  It turns out that the “angels” and “devils” both had white and black students.  Once that was admitted, the news stations had to change the narrative and make it about a “cruel” substitute teacher who was “mean” for labeling her students based on their behavior.

Fast forward to today.

The story about the substitute teacher was featured on many of the local news stations this morning.  Parents are mad, students are sad, and the school was quick to distance itself from this particular person.  The “victims” are trying to recover and move on after actually being labeled as naughty, not that it affected their grade in any way.

Let’s take a closer look and see what really happened in that middle school classroom.

For starters, this was done by a substitute teacher, and not a full-time teacher.  The class’s full-time teacher is out on maternity leave and is scheduled to return in a few weeks.  That means that this particular sub was a long-term sub.

In the school system there are three kinds of substitute teachers:

1 – stellar sub – This is a salaried person who is employed full-time by a particular school, but normally for a very low wage, substantially lower than the teachers.  If an emergency pops up and a sub is needed on the spot, it’s the stellar sub who is supposed to go to that classroom and cover it for however long is needed (sometimes a full day, but usually an hour or two).  Schools normally have one stellar sub.  When not covering a classroom, the stellar sub commonly works in the front office and assists as needed.

2 – substitute teacher – This is a person hired by the county after going through a quick background check.  This person is not assigned to any particular school, and may pick and choose substitute teacher assignments throughout the year, anywhere from kindergarten through high school.  Normally these “teachers” just sit and monitor a classroom, usually passing out assignments and collecting them later, or playing a video.  The job may be for half a day or several days.  These people are glorified babysitters as most of the time they literally sit around and do nothing.  Substitutes are paid by the day or half-day.

3 – long-term substitute (LTS) – This is a substitute teacher who applies to particular schools for long-term assignments, anywhere from a week-and-a-half to several months.  This person is normally interviewed (over the phone, in person, or both) and then hired by a school.  Certifications are helpful in getting these jobs.  Since this is a long assignment, the long-term substitute actually teaches the class, grades homework, administers quizzes and tests, follows the absent teacher’s lesson plans, and disciplines the students.  You *are* the temporary teacher.  The pay is only a slightly higher daily rate than a regular substitute.  However, the work is steady, and being a long-term sub can be a great way to working your way into a full-time teaching position.

Is it easy?  No.  The amount of work varies from one subject to the next.  You’ll have to attend faculty meetings, and you may have to come in early or stay late to help tutor students, especially in math and science.  And if you’re a LTS at the right time of year, you may get to participate in the open house and some parent-teacher conferences.  Like I said, it’s basically being a full-time teacher with all of the responsibilities, but at about half their rate of pay.

Since long-term subs have to actually teach and do real work, it’s normally more difficult for schools to find qualified people who want and can successfully do the job.  This can be rough for somebody new to long-term substitute teaching.  Most subs prefer the daily route as they can pick and choose the really easy assignments.  Plus, to be a long-term sub in middle or high school, you need to have actual knowledge in the subject area.  This can be particularly difficult when it comes to subjects like math and science as well as band and orchestra.

In the case of the list incident, it sounded like this particular sub was hired by the school as a long-term sub.  I believe one news article mentioned that she had been there since the beginning of the semester.  That makes sense as, A) The full-time teacher is out on maternity leave, and B) There’s clear evidence of the sub’s experience on the list that was left behind.

THE HARDEST PART OF TEACHING.

Ask any teacher about the hardest part of being a teacher, and you’ll probably hear about controlling the students.  Others may say it’s getting the students to actually do their work, and that commonly goes hand-in-hand with a lack of discipline.  It’s still the same though.  Kids these days tend to have really bad behavior, and many of them have been allowed to get away with it.

Teachers have control when the school has strict guidelines that are backed by the administrators.  As long as the teachers are consistent and fair, and they’re backed up by the admins, then it’s a stable environment for learning. Students know that disruptive and bad behavior (which is completely under *their* control, mind you) will not be tolerated at any time.  We’re not talking about physical punishments like rapping a ruler against the knuckles, or sitting in the corner with a dunce hat.  These days students have to deal with the harshness of silent lunch (Oh!  The horror!) or maybe, just maybe, detention.  Don’t worry though.  It normally takes a bunch of established bad behavior (or a really nasty offense) to actually get the administrators involved.

Sadly, the discipline varies from one school to another, even in the same district.  If you have weak admins, the students will quickly learn that and then walk all over the teachers.  It’s game over at that point.  The teachers will finally say “enough is enough” and quit, or they may be prone to snapping back at the students in violent ways.  Occasionally you’ll see those stories on the news.  It’s a nasty combination that’s caused over time by rude students and complicated by a lack of upper-level support.

And then there are the parents.

Parents fall into one of three categories:

• those who want to know about bad behavior so that it can be corrected
• those who refuse to believe that their child is bad
• those who don’t give a shit

Those bottom two categories are where most parents are these days.  Either they believe that their child is a perfect little snowflake (and they’ll protect them as much as possible, even bullying the teachers), or they just do not care about their kid’s behavior at school.  “That’s a school problem,” they’ll say.  “Deal with it there.  Not on my time.”

When it comes to classwork and homework, the categories and attitudes are very similar.  That’s a subject for another day.

THE LIST.

This is why we’re here today.  Let’s take a look and see what was actually written that caused so much tension and outrage at Awtrey Middle School.

Here’s the best copy of the list that I could find at this point in time.  While the names are censored, almost all of the list is still legible.  Here’s what it says:

Homeroom / 3rd Period = Actual Nightmare

 

Angels = [censored]

 

Devils = [censored]

 

Mixed = [censored]

 

LOUD – rude to each other, difficult to control

quickly lapse back into bad behavior after correction

 

MUST have a seating chart

[censored] must sit by herself, will talk to her shadow

[censored] will ask if he can move, but up front is best

[censored] must sit near you or he will wander

[censored] must sit 1st or 2nd row per I.E.P.

[censored – several students] should be kept as apart as possible

 

[censored] can have an attitude b/c she doesn’t want to be here

[censored] is easily excited and the kids feed him with teasing / bullying

[censored] has atrocious handwriting

[censored] likes to share her stories at Viking Time

[censored] reads his own book every chance he gets

[censored] is smart and can get bored (and sometimes [unreadable])

 

That’s it.  Really.  That’s the infamous list that has allegedly caused girls in the class to cry (after learning that they were “devils”), and for parents to be outraged because somebody judged and classified their kids for being the rude little boogers that they are.

Looking at the list, you can see that it wasn’t just an upset teacher making notes.  No.  This is a person who wrote a warning note for whomever was supposed to be in her classroom next, whether it’s covering the class for a day or two, or another LTS taking over the assignment.  This list was an honest warning of which students were generally good or bad, and specific examples of other behaviors to expect.

Obviously it was never intended for the students to actually see.  But somebody failed somewhere.  The students noticed it, parents were outraged, and the long-term sub was fired, all because she thought she was being helpful for the next teacher.  That’s really it.  Was any part of that list untrue?  Did she use profanity or vulgar / racist terms?  Nope.

THE HARSH TRUTH.

Are you ready, parents?

Yes, chances are likely that not only does your child lie to you, but they’re also disruptive in class in one way or another.  The most common problems are constant talking and being disrespectful to not only the teacher, but their fellow classmates.  Notice how that’s specifically mentioned in the note.

Look at the note and see it yourself.  There’s a kid who talks to her own shadow, another who will wander around the room, a kid who gets teased and bullied because he gets excited, another with an attitude problem, and many others who need to be separated for one reason or another.

Get the picture?

Or are you like this disgusted mother who was outraged that her son was labeled by the long-term substitute as a “devil”?

That long-term sub has been in the classroom since the beginning of the semester, almost seven weeks ago.  She knows all of her students and their behavior problems.  If he’s a talker and being disruptive, then yes, he most likely deserves to be placed on the “devil” list.  Don’t worry though.  It’s not the end of the world.  Hopefully he’ll still be able to learn about what is inappropriate behavior inside of a classroom.

This is MIDDLE SCHOOL for crying out loud.  The rules are simple to follow.  Sit down, shut up, pay attention, do your work, and ask the teacher when you have a question.  How f*cking hard is that?  These people are supposed to be young adults, not emotionally unstable, diaper-wearing babies.

Oh, you were *upset* that somebody labeled your precious little child (remember that they’re all just children, after all) as being a rude little shit?  Deal with it.  There are probably a lot of things about your child that you don’t know.

DID THIS SUBSTITUTE TEACHER DESERVE TO GET FIRED?

No, absolutely not.  But in today’s overprotective and backwards society, her firing was not a surprise.  Neither was the “outrage” by the parents.

It wasn’t too long ago that subs used to leave notes behind for the teachers, letting them know how things went and which students were problems.  I knew of classmates who were proud whenever their name was mentioned by a sub as being a bad student.  Every once in a while a letter would mention that the sub would never work as a substitute again because of a class’s horrible behavior (see: “homeroom/3rd period = actual nightmare”).  This isn’t anything new.  Not by a long shot.

Behind closed doors in schools, teachers commonly discuss problems about particular students.  They all know which ones are good and which ones are bad.  Many teachers are eager to listen and spread gossip about the latest incident involving so-and-so student.  If they’re lucky, the admins will actually take the bad ones seriously and find ways to remove them from the school.  Again, this is nothing new.

The only problem here is that a long-term substitute took a piece of paper and made a list of students and their behavior problems as a helpful warning for whomever was going to take over her classes.  Instead of just saying “good” or “bad,” this particular woman thought of them as little angels and little devils.  Nothing about it was even remotely racist as implied by the initial news reports.  But because of today’s ass-backwards society, the substitute was severely punished by being fired.  Since this was in the field of education, it’s doubtful she’ll ever be able to have a future career in any school system.

It was all for what?  Some students getting a glimpse at the truth of what others really think about their behavior?

And that, my friends, is beyond ridiculous.

Those “outraged” and butthurt parents and students need to hang their heads in shame.

One day students will have to learn about dealing with problems in the real world.  I can assure you that those problems and challenges will be significantly harder than having a substitute teacher classify your behavior as bad.