It's rant time...
So, the local newspaper has taken up a campaign to slam the school I teach at. We haven't made AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) for the past 2 years, but neither has the other middle school in time. However, the press neglects to mention this in the article discussing how poorly my building has done on AYP issues. They make it sound as we're the only building in town failing.
Not the case. In fact, only two out of 11 buildings have made AYP. However, the press again fails to mention this fact. They praise the other middle school for having advanced placement courses in several subjects. In fact, my building has AP courses in English, Math, and Computer Science. The other school only has AP English.
The press has always disliked my building, but has never so blatantly bashed us. The editor in chief attended SMS when he was a student, his son also attended here, and his daughters will also attend. The writer of the story attended here, as did his younger brother. None of these people were outstanding students - you can tell by reading the paper and seeing the various errors. Anytime we submit articles for publication, they're rejected as being "unsuitable for publication." Yet everything the other middle school submits is published.
Parents are up in arms, but won't/can't do anything to help because of the language barrier -85% of our parents speak no English and are here illegally. The staff is planning on barraging the paper with positive articles and letters about SMS, but we figure it will all be "unsuitable for publication" because it puts the building in a positive light.
AAARRRGGGGHHHHH!!!! It's enought to make a person wanna quit the profession they love.
mikey