Up The Down Staircase Page #4

Use it in a sentence.

Steps all over like white people.

l know because l'm colored.

-Rusty.

-Mrs. Macbeth nudges them.

-You mean, ''Nudges.''

-''Nudges.''

Being a female, she spurns him on.

Spurs.

He wouldn't have done it,

except she spurned him on.

-Then she's the ruthless one.

-Yeah.

Alice.

l think everyone has missed

the whole point.

lt's a play about love.

Mr. Macbeth loves Mrs. Macbeth so much

that he'll do anything to please her,

even kill.

Jerry.

Can't some people love and hate

at the same time, Miss Barrett?

Aside from ambition, isn't that

how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth

destroyed themselves and each other?

Jerry.

That was a very interesting point

you made,

and we'll talk more about it next time.

You whitey-loving plow boy.

Linda, Linda.

Did Miss... Did Miss Eagen

put something on that bruise?

Oh, no, she gave me a cup of tea.

ls that all?

l think she uses used tea bags.

Well, come with me. l will... l'll talk to her.

And it's a very bad bruise.

Linda has a rough time with her father.

Well, what good will tea do? Why tea?

Read that.

''The school nurse

may not touch wounds...''

''...give medication, remove foreign

particles from the eye...''

Can't you talk to somebody?

Like who?

Dr. Bester, the Welfare Administration,

social agencies, parents,

l don't know.

Oh, l'll do that

l'll just do that.

While you're here, Miss Barrett,

it's come to my attention

that there are matters of form

which you've neglected to fill out.

Now, students

delinquent in obtaining gym suits

should be alphabetized

and sent to me at once.

And please, above all,

discourage excessive dieting

in your home room.

All right, l'll... l'll remember that.

Gym suits and excessive dieting.

l will remember that. Thank you.

l give them tea.

At least that's something.

Linda.

Linda, you can go on to class now.

-You can't still see it, can you?

-No.

So long as you can't see it.

Linda.

ls there anything that l can do for you?

Oh, yeah, you could get us dancing

in the cafeteria.

Other schools do it and they put on things.

Why not? You only live once.

Miss Friedenberg.

Miss Barrett.

l would like to have you tell me all you can

about Linda Rosen and Lou Martin,

Eddie Williams, Rusty O'Brien

and Joe Ferone.

l need some ammunition.

Sit down, Miss Barrett.

lt's a wise teacher who teaches

not just the subject but the whole pupil.

Well, right now,

l just need some ammunition.

Now, first let me explain

my counseling system.

These cabinets contain the PRCs.

The PRC is, of course, the permanent

record card kept for each student.

Now in the PRC is the PPP.

lt almost sings, doesn't it?

The PPP is the pupil personality profile.

l invented it myself, and l write it up

from my interviews in depth.

Now, that's Miss Barrett, room 3...

Three twenty-two, now...

-That was Edward Williams.

-Edward Williams.

Edward Williams.

Edward... Edward Williams.

''Must curb tendency to paranoia due

to socioeconomic environmental factors.''

Lou Martin, was it?

Louis Martin.

''Exhibits inverted hostility

in manic behavior patterns.''

Now, who else was that?

Rusty O'Brien.

Richard, Richard...

''Show signs of latent homosexuality

induced by narcissistic mother

''and permissive self-abusive practices.''

Am l going too fast for you, Miss Barrett?

No, no, l think that l understand.

Eddie Williams hates white people,

Lou Martin is a cut-up

and Rusty O'Brien hates women.

lt's a wise teacher who translates

such complexities

into the environmental vernacular.

-What about Joe Ferone?

-Joe Ferone?

Ferone.

''Should channel

his libidino-aggressive impulses

''into socially acceptable attitudes.''

l suggest you wear a smock.

On the...

On the blue line,

to the right of the blue line on the PRC

is the CC. Capsule characterization.

Now, at the end of each term,

each teacher

writes a succinct phrase for each student.

A summing up.

You should start thinking

about your CC's now.

For example, Linda Rosen.

What would you say so far?

Marry her off fast.

You don't quite get the idea, Miss Barrett.

Her home room teacher last term

wrote, ''Works to capacity.''

That's true.

Now, other exemplary CC's would be,

''Latent leader.''

''Needs encouragement.''

''Fine boy.'' ''Should try harder.''

My CC's go back 23 years,

since l first came to Calvin Coolidge.

Before that, unfortunately, there's a void.

You have devoted a whole generation

of time to this work, haven't you,

Miss Friedenberg?

Why, that's very kind of you, Miss Barrett.

No one has ever thought

to comment on it before.

Thank you.

lt says here Joe Ferone has an lQ of 133.

That's very high, isn't it?

But his marks are very low.

Yes, but there's a 94 in Social Studies.

But a 22 in English.

What kind of an English teacher

would give a 22?

She must have sat up all night

deciding between 21 and 23.

He's volunteered various home addresses,

all of them nonexistent.

So if he doesn't show up at school,

the truant officers won't know where

-to find him.

-They've given up trying.

Yes, but he keeps coming back.

Now and then.

Oh, l'm late.

But may l keep this?

All right, but bring it back to me.

Oh, yes, of course. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Please, please may l have your attention.

lf you don't quiet... Please. Thank you.

Would the person or persons who took

my desk blotter please return it?

Lou, please.

There will be no questions asked.

Joe Ferone,

will you stay after the bell rings?

l just want my desk blotter back

by tomorrow.

Joe, l got your PRC

from Miss Friedenberg this morning,

and l've been going over it very carefully.

The thing that interests me most

are the contradictions.

The low grades, absences...

This long list of infractions

and disciplinary measures.

And then suddenly, out of nowhere,

a high mark

and perfect attendance.

You gonna report me, Teach,

for not staying after?

l never reported you for anything.

You will.

You act as if you wanted me to.

l've just seen your type before, that's all.

There's one every year.

''Not living up to your potential,'' they say.

ls that what you were gonna say, Teach?

''Just want to help you, Joe.

Just wanna be your friend.''

Then they get to feeling very sorry

about your environmental factors

and your low socioeconomic level

till you just have to tell them,

''Get your nose out

of my environmental factors, will you?''

''Keep your damn hands off my potential.''

Then they turn you in.

l'm not going to turn you in.

You know, you're better at it than most.

Standing there, looking down at you,

l might almost think you give a damn.

-l do.

-Prove it.

Give me time.

-You trying to make a deal of some kind?

-Are you?

All right, Teach.

Let's have that talk about my potential.

You know...

You could be suspended

for carrying that knife.

Not unless someone turns me in.

Give it to me.

Sure.

Would you come with me, please?

Aren't you gonna say how sorry

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