Dear President Obama,

Dear President Obama,

I am a teacher at P000 in the South Bronx. It is a school
specifically for children with severe emotional disabilities. One of
my students tried to set his cat on fire; another her house aflame. I
have had two students stay for months in a psych ward because they
heard voices telling them to kill themselves or others. One of my
students gave another teacher a black eye last year. One spit in yet
another teacher's face.

Perhaps it sounds like a hopeless situation, but it is not.
Underneath all of their outbursts, illnesses and psychotropic
medication, they are children. And they want to learn. And I want to
teach.

The problem I face, beyond the obvious, is a lack of resources.
Many children in my school are so volatile they are mandated, by law,
to have a para professional tend only to them. Because of budget cuts,
administration and teachers are forced to choose which one of these
students "need" a para most. The law states that these children are
entitled to one on one assistance and yet, it is left up to the staff
to decide who can go without. There simply is not enough money to hire
the people we are legally obligated to provide.

In addition to staff, we have very few resources. We are out of
white paper. We're currently using blue. We used up all the yellow.
Pink is next. We have out of date atlases and globes. We have no
pencils. Our computers are missing keys. We have no printer ink. My
second graders are sitting on adult chairs because we ran out of early
childhood chairs. Desks are held together with tape and a prayer. I am
able to provide some supplies, but with my salary it is not possible
to supply enough.

In a nutshell- we need money. It sounds as if it is simplifying
the problem, but it is not. Money does not buy happiness but it is an
indication of value. How can these children value reading if we do not
have books? Writing if we have no pencils or computers? Math if we
have no calculators? Social studies and science with no globes or
rulers? Why should these children put any value on their own education
if we do not value them enough to give them desks that are in one
piece and chairs that fit?

My students idolize you. Not a day goes by where one is not
wearing a t shirt with your likeness or slogan plastered across the
front. You made them believe that they, too, CAN. And yet they come to
school everyday and are told they can't; that they don't even deserve
basic tools.

I do not think any of my students should be President. Were the
boy who set his cat on fire to run, he would not receive my vote (I
have two cats). The boys who periodically hear voices are, perhaps,
not up to the task of leading the free world. But for a brief moment
after your victory, all believed that they could. Who are we to tell
them otherwise?

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Jamie Hoel
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