Pennings: School budget cuts, a death from a thousand cuts

Comments on the educational committee for Thursday, May 15th, submitted by Kim Pennings, teacher of Greenwich Public School

I am here tonight to deliver a strange love letter. I love my job, I love my students, I love this city and I am grateful for the hard work that the Board of Education did and is about. I'm up here tonight, not because I think it will change things, I'm too discouraged for it because it has already taken place. But I think it is important to be part of the protocol and as a witness of what is done: as a resident of Greenwich, a parent of students and as a teacher at GHS, I do not see the value of these cuts, I see a slow death from a thousand cuts.

We all know that the teaching profession is based on a lot of free work, and it is my free work that enables all of these cuts. I and teachers like me will bear the costs directly.

I run the Critical Discourse Club at GHS, which discusses 15 to 30 members on philosophical topics for one hour after school on a certain Thursday. I used to have time for the management of a club, but now I'm doing it for free because I love your children.

I lead the National English Honor Society with 157 members. We have elections and carry out a first semester program. I do it for free because I love your children.

I regularly assign to the AP test every 2-3 weeks, to which I should only spend 5 minutes with it, each, but I often spend at least 10 because I love their children. And with 96 essays this is 16 hours of work, 4 times per marker time. During the day I have meetings and study halls to run and lessons, so I keep it after school and at the weekend for free because I love your children.

I am in the process of losing access to 10 years of time-consuming data input that I made in the Schoology platform that we have just cut. If I go smoothly next year, I would better work to download my materials and transfer my materials to Google Classroom, a process that takes weeks and that I will do for free because I love your children.

When asked, my own two children say: “You also love us, but you work all the time.” Tonight I lack my daughter's first high school performance on the opening evening of “The Little Mermaid”, so I can be here to stand for your children.

I'm really tired, but this love for teaching your children stops me. I have no place in my life to take over the part of the house administrator, the dean, the learning broker and the consultant, who inevitably becomes mine, since the responsibility for me is passed on.

I watched how we decided not to cut English teachers, but only rent quiet replacement if they retire, which leads to a quiet growth of my class sizes and the calm loss of my free time, as it is eaten quietly by my free work.

I can't stay calm tonight. I have to speak of the consequences of these cuts because I give them personally.

Incidentally, I have almost perfect participation. I took a day off all year round because I was too sick to get to work so as not to fly to Italy (as we were once publicly accused). But when I was in bed, I still rated essays because I love your children. I would like to know how many lawyers, bankers or even educational consultants work every year for their children over 300 hours per bono.

Teachers like me are part of the problem: we believe that we can continue with less. There will be a point where less is less. I have no free time to give them. It only means less for your children.