As Bad as They Say?: Three Decades of Teaching in the Bronx

12. Pedro—The Piano Player

12 Pedro—The Piano Player Some of the most profound conversations that I ever had with my closest colleagues occurred in our non-air-conditioned, decrepit basement lunchroom. (I tore my hosiery every day on the broken wooden chairs that served as lunchroom ‘‘furniture.’’) Although these devoted teachers taught English, as I did, we often lamented the lack of music instruction, not only in our school, but in so many city high schools. The assistant principal in charge of English, another of my heroes, put in endless hours, days, and weeks trying her best to bring music into our school—and it wasn’t even her ‘‘job.’’ Since 1975, when the city was near bankruptcy, music, art, and foreign languages— considered ‘‘frills’’—were cut from the curriculum, and, as I told you before, most music, art, and foreign-language teachers were fired. For the last thirty years, the only mandated music course was a one-termone -credit music appreciation class. One of our two music teachers had ‘‘recycled’’ himself and had become a librarian (and he had a PhD in music), and the other one, an older gentleman, remained to teach the required music class to fifty students per class, five classes per day—a total of 250 students seen daily. Academic classes were ‘‘capped’’ at thirty-four students, but music, a nonacademic frill, overflowed with fifty students, and half or more were often special education students. (In special education classes no more than fifteen were allowed.) Any music teacher, even Leonard Bernstein, would have been overwhelmed. Our poor, wornout instructor, Mr. Blume, was forced to take off three days each term, when report card grades were due, just so that he could get all his marks 97 98 Defying Expectations entered on marking sheets. Can you imagine teaching 250 teenagers per day? Of course, we had no band and no instrument instruction. Many students came to Carter High School unaware of this situation and were greatly disappointed. However, there had been a brief time, in the late 1980s through the early 1990s, when live theatrical performances and music and dance permeated the lives and souls of Carter High School students. These were the ‘‘Camelot’’ years! The principal had asked me to head a committee that would be entrusted to spend $300,000 over a period of three years for anything outside the regular curriculum, targeted essentially for ‘‘frills.’’ This ‘‘Rewarding Success’’ grant had been given to our school for reasons that were never made clear to us, but nevertheless we heartily welcomed it. The committee’s choices were easy; we just filled in what we saw as gaps in our students’ education. For these three years we brought life to Carter High School. We hired professional musicians to introduce the entire student body to all the instruments in the orchestra, and also to expose them to all forms of music. In addition, for the first time, students could receive instruction, after school, on instruments of their own choice. (Within a very short time, these students formed a band and put on performances in our auditorium for everyone to enjoy.) The Alvin Ailey Dance Troupe was hired and performed live on our own stage— after we paid to repair the stage floor. We took hundreds of students to Broadway theaters, sat in the best orchestra seats, and saw such shows as Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Fiddler on the Roof, Cats, Miss Saigon, and The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center. I will always remember that one of the theaters, newly refurbished, had soft, velvet-like seats, and students admired their luxuriousness. I told these excited teenagers that the seats should be plush; after all, they cost sixty dollars. One fine young lady turned to me and asked, ‘‘And how much did the ticket cost?’’ Often, after the performances, theatergoers approached me and complimented my students on their exceptionally good behavior. Maybe they had worried when they saw sixty minority high school teenagers enter the theater? On graduating, these students who participated in the Rewarding Success Program all said that they would remember these performances for the rest of their lives. By the time Pedro entered Carter High School, not only had the Camelot years ended, but there were no students left who even remembered those grand old days. Pedro—The Piano Player 99 Carter High School was one of the oldest city high schools, and hidden in...