Yesterday, I joined Brenner for his interview at a local charter school. The brick three-story building is nearly 90 years old. As he ingratiated himself with the VP, I explored the "condemned" second floor. I expected tiny ghosts to lure me in to be the teacher that they've so patiently awaited all these years. As I cautiously shuffled along the ruined hardwood floors, I realized that I was snooping in an area that wasn't used for storage like all the other rooms. As I tried to exit, the loud creaking floorboards sparked visions of my crashing through to the first floor, landing in Brenner's khaki lap just as he answered, "What do you have to offer our school?"
Two whole floors are condemned, crammed in sections with every literacy and numeracy program that was adopted and neglected over the past twenty years. And what about all of the air conditioning seeping out to nowhere from the stairwell? I wanted to call a home improvement show. Kids are in those character-void portables in the back, taking up more of their free space, because the school does not have money to renovate and refurbish this treasure. Was I in New Orleans again?