High School Curriculum Change

A Recommendation for changing High School Education in California

My long experience teaching has convinced me that most of the youngsters in California secondary schools will profit very little from the last four or five years of their state mandated and financed education.

Most have little interest in traditional academic subjects and instinctively know that, for them, time spent in high school will be more like serving a prison sentence than in preparation for a brighter future. The great majority does not like, and in fact, actively despises school.

Instead of wasting years of time and millions of dollars in traditional high school education, youngsters could be separated at age fourteen, most to commence a short but intensive program of technical training which would prepare them for some work they could perform as juveniles and perhaps later as adults.

Only those students which show a definite aptitude and desire to study academic subjects should be tracked into small classes of hopefully enthusiastic, academically oriented scholars--instead of presenting more or less useless, watered-down "academic" subjects to overcrowded classrooms full of lethargic, unwilling teenagers

This will free good teachers of academic subjects to teach willing students rather than to oversee and discipline unruly masses and allow good teachers with technical skills to teach those who need them.

Secondary school education in its present form for most young men and women is not a golden gateway to opportunity but a portal to wasted time and frustration.

Tomasito, 2008

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ALBA High School

Mr. Samuel’s Monologue, 05/30/02

Mr. Samuel was a very big, very strong black man who was the director of ALBA HIGH when I taught there.

There had been a disruption in the school routine. Some student had stolen one of the teacher’s cameras and taken some porno shots with it so Mr. Samuel held a “lock down” for several hours in my classroom–which was the biggest classroom in the school and would comfortably hold all the students at one time.

He talked for a long time. First he told the story of one of his ex-students. Then he just talked using only key words and leaving out all the unnecessary verbiage.

His talk was sincere, terribly effective and like a poem to me.

Mr. Samuel:

“Chris was a good guy, a wrestler and football halfback.

He lost it. Started selling. Using.

Juvenile Hall–snapped!

(using policeman’s voice) “Looks like you killed your girlfriend and baby.”

Doing life, and the other young guy too.

Life?

Over.

Follow the rules–be respectful–play the game.

What counts most is how you act when Mom ain’t around–what counts is everyday behavior–we all make mistakes–what counts is bounce back–move forward.

I help you move forward–take pride in that–BIG TIME.

Staff–strengths and weaknesses–nobody perfect–try your hardest to do the right thing.

Every day. Every minute.

Cameras–watching everywhere. You’ll get caught. Everybody talks.

Choices. What you say and do–consequences!

Having fun–

Click! Click! Handcuffs!

Can happen to anybody anytime.

Your dad–your uncles: black, brown, white, Asian.

In the jail. No talking. Get in line. Get a ride to the hole.

Spray.

Sticks.

Boom!

Locked up.

Make bed. Tuck in sheets. Eat. Breakfast. Get in line.

Tuck your shirt in.

Get in Line. Go to work. Make your 25 cents an hour.

Lunch. Boom. Back to work. Phone call. “Hello, Mom. How you doing?”

10 o’clock. Lights out. Scared of your cellmate ‘cause they might jump on you.

Count time. Six times a day. Big–small–pretty–ugly.

If you can’t make it here at ALBA you’ll be in jail.

Treated like animals in prison.

Quiet, nice here. Do class work.

Whatever happens here gets around real fast.

Word’s out. Big time. Camera stolen. Photos of body parts.

Self control. Common sense says “NO”.

Juvenile Hall.

Jail.

ATTITUDE makes it ghetto!

You don’t have this–don’t have that–MAKE IT WORK!

Why is La Jolla different from ALBA?

Not because they full of white folks and money–because they have a better Attitude.

Monkey in a suit doing tricks still a monkey!

You affect somebody else every day.

(policeman’s voice) “Just a black girl! Just a Mexican! Told ya–that’s what they ALWAYS do!”

Best think you can do is the right thing.

Black skin. Brown skin, White skin.

Do the RIGHT thing!

Once you in Juvenile Hall, you’re an animal.

Sad.

Bottom line–you treated like an animal.

Last hug. You gotta go.

You can be here doing right or on your way!

Word gets out real fast about what’s happening–good and bad stuff included!

It gets out.

Hard core–used up on the streets.

Smells like yesterday and looks sad.

You’re valuable–if you weren’t you wouldn’t be here.

Some countries, you mess up, you’re out.

They beat you.

While you’re still free, be the best you can be!

Take the trash out!

Do the dishes without being told!”

Tomasito, 2008

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ALBA School

AT ALBA HIGH SCHOOL

For Your Information

This is not an official or authorized report about this unusual high school.

I was a substitute English teacher at ALBA High for several weeks in the spring of 2001. These are my observations.

ALBA HIGH SCHOOL in San Diego, California was an extraordinary high school for students accused of some fairly “minor” crime in the streets or convicted of such violations as “possession of weapons” in school, etc.

ALBA students came from all over the city. Some seemed to me to be “hardened criminals” others just “hard luck” kids.

Some had bad attitudes and could be disruptive but the school had a very low tolerance for bad behavior and the four or five teachers expected and usually got good cooperation from the students–or the students were removed. As a substitute teacher, I had certainly experienced far worse behavior from students in regular classes.

There were about fifty students enrolled at ALBA when I was there. The classes were small, usually from five to twenty students per teacher. The students moved from one class to another every period in small groups (for example from math to English), as they would have done at a regular school.

Only academic subjects were taught; there were no sports or other elective subjects. Students were not allowed to leave the unmarked storefront school building after they had checked in by 7:30 in the morning, nor were they allowed to carry the usual student’s backpack into the building. They could only bring: a pencil and a notebook, and these mandatory supplies were inspected at the door.

The windowless fluorescent-lit rooms of the converted commercial building produced a rather depressing environment, but this halfway school was not supposed to be an especially pleasant experience for the students: not exactly punishment but not pleasurable either.

The courts had directed these students to attend ALBA HIGH for a few weeks or a month or two instead of their regular schools while their legal future was being decided–so there was a constant coming and going of young people. Most of the students would return to their former schools. Some would be convicted of criminal behavior and go from ALBA to Juvenile Detention Hall (“Juvie”) or experience some other punishment.

All the students were black or brown–that is of African or Mexican racial extraction. At one time or another some white youth would be in attendance but these obvious misfits had no friends or status–and enjoyed only such respect as their criminal record would grant them as fighters and hoodlums.

There were girls and boys at ALBA, but I would say about five times the number of boys as girls.

For faculty there were three white women, a Mexican man and woman and the director, a very strong looking black man. A Native American from New Mexico cleaned the building before the school opened in the morning. I am white—also from New Mexico.

I mention these facts about race because race was important at ALBA

(Continued tomorrow)

Tomasito, 2008

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