This week has been depressing

My kids think Martin Luther King, Jr. freed the slaves. They don't know what the Constitution is, much less a constitutional amendment. They don't know what Congress is or what it does. They don't know what Jews are, either, and I had a hell of a time trying to explain what anti-Semitism is.

I am so frustrated and saddened by all this that I don't know what to do. I have some vague idea in my mind where I work with the kids brainstorming about the stuff they do know, because I am afraid I made them feel kind of stupid with my incredulity about what they didn't know. And that wasn't my intention at all. I'm just angry that they haven't been taught these things. It's not fair. So much of my teaching experience has involved me wanting to stomp my feet and cry about how fucking unfair everything is.

Speaking of unfair, they take their Major Writing Test next week.