Bill Clinton nor George Bush can teach Here

Do you realize that Bill Clinton nor George Bush--elder or younger--are qualified to teach social science in the middle school grades in the Chicago Public School System. This fact makes me feel better that I am not either.

I've been teaching 7th and 8th graders the majority of my time as a teacher. I love it. My heart goes out to them. The difference between what a child is like when he/she starts 7th grade is enormous to how he/she is when 8th grade graduation occurs. At this age, the emotional part of a child's brain is growing much faster than the rational part of the brain. This is a scientific fact. And many parents and teachers are bewildered at how emotional 7th and 8th graders can be. It's the terrible twos all over again with a large helping of hormones poured on top.

I had a student last year tell me to "shut the "f" up." A half hour later this same student--a boy with an emotional disorder--was sitting at my desk crying because he was missing his late father. By the end of the day he was as cheerful as can be and volunteering answers. And, if I do say so myself, it takes a strong constitution to handle the ups and downs, the trials and tribulations, the pride and disappointment felt in minutes when dealing with students in the middle grades.

In addition to teaching middle school students for at least 7 years, I have also been teaching them social science. I have absolutely fallen in love with the subject. I teach all the subjects, but I particularly love teaching them social science. Middle School students often feel helpless to authority at the same time being told to act like an adult. Teaching the students their Constitutional rights empowers them. Teaching them about the young people throughout history who have altered the course of the world grabs their attention and, again, empowers them. Teaching them about the different parts of the world ignites curiousity that motivates them to do better so they can see the world around them first hand.

But, I'm not qualified to teach it anymore.

The Illinois State Board of Education, in all its magnificent glory, has rewritten the rules and moved the goal line once again. Now a teacher needs to be endorsed in the middle school grades and the subjects they teach, even if they have been teaching these grades and subjects for years now. Doesn't count.

So, Bill Clinton, George H W Bush and George W Bush, you need not apply. Harvard will take you. Yale will take you. Georgetown, Stanford and Oakton Community College. But, sorry. You don't have enough credentials here, at CPS.