I work in Baltimore City in a building that was built in the 1960. For its age its a fairly decent building if you look past the fact that it has no HEAT in most of its classrooms. The lockers are death traps with random pieces of metal sticking out. The bathrooms are condemned because they are nasty and kids keep setting fires in them ( I really can't blame them. If you saw the state one of the staff bathrooms is in you'd probably light it on fire too).
We have roaches every where through out the building. For the longest time there was a smashed roach on the wall of the teachers' bathroom that just sat there every time I went in to use the toilet. I wanted to wipe it off the wall but I just couldn't. Besides we rarely have toilet paper in the bathroom stalls as it is and I didnt want to waste the precious paper for such a task.
The pipes in the building are lead filled so none of the fountains in the building are usable. The sink water is non-potable also due to the lead. The few Deer Park water coolers we have either don't work properly, aren't changed out regularly and are empty, or are stored in rooms where no one has a key or its occupied by a class. And we wonder why our kids drink so much soda and sugary juices all the time!?!?
I could go on and on about the plight of this building...My classroom doesnt have functioning eye wash and shower stations or working gas jets and I teach chemistry!!!! I don't have locks with KEYS to either door in my lab. One door remains unlocked at all times which is a safety hazard. I pushed a huge cabinet up against the door for "Security" but I have to move it out the way every time I want to enter into my classroom because the other door locks behind me and I still don't have a key for it after 2 years of asking!
We sit with our coats, scarves, mittens, hats and gloves just to keep the chill off during class. I brought in a tiny space heater but its nothing compared to the chill that blows through windows that won't close or are broken.
I've had enough today though. As I left the bathroom today something fell and hit my arm. I looked down and it was a roach on my arm. I yelled in disgust and brushed it off and stomped back to my room to write this blog. I don't know what good this will do but I just had to get my irritation out because I am tired of coming to work and seeing RAT or MOUSE shit on my desk on a regular basis. The teacher's lounge is no place to store food so I dont even bring my lunch anymore. I spend more money than I should to go out and grab lunch during the short little 30 minutes that we have to inhale our food. I'm fed up working in conditions like this. This school needs to be bull dozed to the ground and rebuilt from the ground up with a fresh new start. But thats not going to happen with all the budget cuts the city is facing. Well maybe those slot machines will come in handy after all!
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