For 22 long years I was an educator in one of the country’s largest public school system. Most of my time was spent in the classroom, but over the last eight plus years I moved to the Counselor’s office. A few weeks ago I bid my final farewell to it all.
One of the lasting impressions I must carry with me, and there are many, is the awful lack of true Christian faith in the schools. I was privileged to be a part of the African American part of the city, for, among a sizeable number of the people of color, Christ is not negotiable. So although we had no official mandate, not even permission if one wants to be technical, Christ was allowed in, at least to a small degree. In one school, we started main events with prayer. There was a Gospel choir, where very specifically Bible-related music was broadcast.
I remember being in shock to hear such strong affirmations of my faith coming in this way. Nevertheless, not much of the life of Christ was evident when all the thunderous singing and praying was finished. We were left with poverty, drugs, discipline chaos, and all the rest.
It was even worse in another school I served, where Christ’s name was hardly mentioned at all, except in vile language. Another exception was by the cleaning and cooking staff, who valued their relationship to the Lord. One could pick up bits and pieces of sisters encouraging one another from time to time. The teaching staff could have learned from their simple but dynamic faith.
I have often wondered where this and other schools would be academically if once more the Word of God and prayer were openly allowed in public education. One can understand why it might be eliminated in an all-Catholic neighborhood or a Muslim school. But in areas where the prevailing faith is Christian, why shouldn’t the students hear at school what they hear at home and church? Whose faith are we following? The faith of the policy-makers?
I’m sure there are teachers in the system who, like me, occasionally “shut their door” and teach students things that children absolutely must know about life. They risk their income by doing this, but the Great Commission stands, and Christ will be preached one way or another.
Most of the people I talked with over the years are aware of the moral and spiritual poverty of the _______ Public Schools. There is an ongoing feeling of helplessness and hopelessness that eventually devolves into, “Where’s my check?” I confess that much of the time I worked for income alone, as I had run out of ideas for children.
Make no mistake about it. Public education may say it has solutions, but without Christ it has none. None that work. Tons of new programs, swallowing up tons of taxpayer dollars, are introduced constantly, and they all fall by the wayside. Forgotten is the fallen nature of mankind, and its need for a Saviour.
I need not even say that today’s students are in trouble. In a three-day period this spring, as I was trying to go out on some sort of a positive note, three impossible cases came to my desk:
An HIV positive student complained about rejection. But the students were rejecting this person because HIV is contagious, and they were afraid. But public school policy forbids the telling of anyone that there is an infected person in the building!
Then there was the child who wants to be a professional hit-man when he grows up. The teacher asked these 6th graders to write an essay about their future plans. A brief session with the student left me with a sad understanding of where such a dream could have been birthed, in a dysfunctional home placed in a dysfunctional neighborhood.
And the runaway girl, also 6th grade, 12 years old, pregnant from a 6th grade boy, and on drugs. I said 12 years old.
Are teachers trained for this?
And, does training make a difference if Christ is not in it? If you are a praying person, pray that those who have anything to do with what happens in our schools will allow the pleading Jesus to come into the lives of those for whom He came and died.
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