After five months of suspended classes, Ziquítaro’s fourth graders finally have a teacher. The problem began during winter vacation as the fourth grade teacher was permitted to transfer schools despite the fact that the principal had not yet secured a replacement. Once school began again in January the children and their parents were shocked by the unwarranted suspension of fourth grade classes. While the principal offered to teach classes for pay – an illegal move as her job description specifically holds her responsible for teaching the classes while a replacement is found – the mothers found this request ridiculous, as their children are guaranteed a free public education, as well as unfeasible due to their economic limitations. Consequently, the principal ignored their qualms and began teaching classes to three select students who happened to be the sons and daughters of her close friends.
To correct the wrong the mothers spoke with government officials at the local education building, yet no one paid much attention to them. Then, they went to the regional educational building – still no resolve. Then they came to me. They were at a point of such utter desperateness that they asked me - a foreign English teacher - to teach their kids the fourth grade. One mother’s decision in particular personifies their desperateness: to guarantee her son’s right to basic primary education she and her son immigrated from Ziquítaro to Fort Worth, Texas in order to enroll her son in the fourth grade.
While I agreed to teach the children a few times a week, I saw their request as an urgent cry for help which could only be answered by obtaining a permanent teacher. So, Michel and I talked to the priest about what to do and came to a simple conclusion; a meeting of the fourth graders’ mothers which would be led by a local teacher who is not only extremely informed about the political processes necessary for educational change but also very dedicated to the town’s children and their education.
The meeting was a complete success. While initially the women’s lack of self confidence regarding their abilities to articulate or contest questions and dispute arguments deterred the conversation away from direct public action, with the help of the teacher they navigated the issue and decided to take political action. They planned a strike in which they would “take” the local education building day and night until the local administrative bodies came up with a solution. Their petition was simple yet powerful as it demanded a teacher as well as a few other essential changes such as the dissembling of a brick wall about to fall on the elementary school’s playground.
All the mothers – except for the three whose children were already receiving instruction – agreed. The protest began on Monday. Roughly twenty five women arrived at the local education building at 7:30 am, unpacked their sack breakfasts and began their peaceful seizure of the building, blocking any employee from entering. The protest lasted two days as all of their grievances were answered within 48 hours.
The new teacher begins this Tuesday, the 5th of May. According to the agreement made between the parents and the education office the teacher is not to participate in the two month long teacher’s union strike which plagues the local schools with a closure from May until the end of June. Instead, he is to work with the kids to bring them back up to grade level proficiency so that they can avoid repeating the fourth grade.
The actions that the forth graders’ mothers took were unusual for Ziquítaro, a town where conscious complacency is all too often the norm. Yet, I hope that this story will set an example and show the hundreds of concerned, yet voiceless, mothers and fathers of elementary and junior high students that they can positively change the trajectory of their children’s marginalized education.
To correct the wrong the mothers spoke with government officials at the local education building, yet no one paid much attention to them. Then, they went to the regional educational building – still no resolve. Then they came to me. They were at a point of such utter desperateness that they asked me - a foreign English teacher - to teach their kids the fourth grade. One mother’s decision in particular personifies their desperateness: to guarantee her son’s right to basic primary education she and her son immigrated from Ziquítaro to Fort Worth, Texas in order to enroll her son in the fourth grade.
While I agreed to teach the children a few times a week, I saw their request as an urgent cry for help which could only be answered by obtaining a permanent teacher. So, Michel and I talked to the priest about what to do and came to a simple conclusion; a meeting of the fourth graders’ mothers which would be led by a local teacher who is not only extremely informed about the political processes necessary for educational change but also very dedicated to the town’s children and their education.
The meeting was a complete success. While initially the women’s lack of self confidence regarding their abilities to articulate or contest questions and dispute arguments deterred the conversation away from direct public action, with the help of the teacher they navigated the issue and decided to take political action. They planned a strike in which they would “take” the local education building day and night until the local administrative bodies came up with a solution. Their petition was simple yet powerful as it demanded a teacher as well as a few other essential changes such as the dissembling of a brick wall about to fall on the elementary school’s playground.
All the mothers – except for the three whose children were already receiving instruction – agreed. The protest began on Monday. Roughly twenty five women arrived at the local education building at 7:30 am, unpacked their sack breakfasts and began their peaceful seizure of the building, blocking any employee from entering. The protest lasted two days as all of their grievances were answered within 48 hours.
The new teacher begins this Tuesday, the 5th of May. According to the agreement made between the parents and the education office the teacher is not to participate in the two month long teacher’s union strike which plagues the local schools with a closure from May until the end of June. Instead, he is to work with the kids to bring them back up to grade level proficiency so that they can avoid repeating the fourth grade.
The actions that the forth graders’ mothers took were unusual for Ziquítaro, a town where conscious complacency is all too often the norm. Yet, I hope that this story will set an example and show the hundreds of concerned, yet voiceless, mothers and fathers of elementary and junior high students that they can positively change the trajectory of their children’s marginalized education.
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