OPINION: Roosevelt High School, from the trenches

Dolores Edwards lives in Point Lookout.

Although retirement yields an unfamiliar appetite of early morning walks and theater matinees, there still linger the echoes of hallways and the memories attached: the melody of kids and their innocence, of their wit and their bantering.

I recently retired from Roosevelt High School, and a long career that included teaching in Rockaway, Rikers Island and the South Bronx. The words in my letter of resignation will always ring true: "I am deeply saddened to leave the children of Roosevelt." They truly deserve more.

The embattled Roosevelt High School, taken over by the state in 2002, is a failed resurrection that goes around in a circle like a broken record. A kind description would be to call it an "existential renaissance." A more viable one would be "slapstick madness": seven principals in 10 years, four superintendents, four human resource directors. The revolving door of "those in charge" - they come and go like thunder, and the kids and teachers are left to clean up the mess.

My advanced placement classes were a haven, but there were four AP coordinators in four years. So the testing environment was always imperfect. Books were lost and students were placed in the wrong classes. And those in charge wonder why these students fail more than others. The answer, of course, is that they fail because of "those in charge."

Many are former teachers who ran out of a working classroom like it was a factory on fire. Waves of teachers follow them, so they too can be a boss of madness. Madness that includes science labs as outdated as the washroom in Rikers and schedules never done until November - and, unfortunately, never done right. And discipline never enforced.

Teachers are blamed for everything: kids who are depressed, too happy and high, too smart and fresh, too advanced and petulant, too behind and failing. The only thing that matters is the test, and the only thing that doesn't is what happened in a student's life before the test was taken.

This is true in all districts, but when a district has money, it's able to fix what's wrong way before the test. Those in charge know how to track and schedule a student to perfection.

Perhaps, however, teachers should share the blame. After all, isn't one of the purposes of a union to be a watchdog for those in charge? A garment worker may not have a master's degree, but she can certainly tell you that she can't sew a dress if the sewing machine is broken.

Unions in general, but certainly in Roosevelt, have to stop defending bad teachers and start rewarding good ones. Merit pay is an essential ingredient to success, and a union that doesn't support it shouldn't be in the teaching business.

The integrity of any union can only be measured by the courage of its constituency. In Roosevelt's case, it should begin with consistent leadership and accountability not only for the teachers, but for the students as well.

To my students, you will all be missed. Your jokes have entertained me. Your patience has inspired me. And if I failed you, I am sorry. For ultimately, it was I who was in charge of you.