Approximately 1,000 MAFT members, which include teachers, staff and school-related personnel, have been directly affected by Hurricane Katrina,

We'll make a determination once they (completely) register students whether additional teachers need to be hired. A lot depends on how many students enter our schools system.

.School will be back to normal on Wednesday. All students are expected to turn out, and the teachers should be there. We continue our deliberations and seek to iron out the situation.

Obviously, we have an obligation to the students to have a positive school environment. You do that by having some stability throughout the classroom. Most principals want to have somebody in there for the rest of the school year, even if it means hiring a retired teacher.

I was always the kid in school that teachers were getting after to be quiet. My report card had math, A, reading, A, spelling, A, science, A, conduct, F. I was always talking to somebody. They would always take me and put me over in a corner by myself.

My English teacher has no face. She has uncombed stringy hair that droops on her shoulders. The hair is black from her part to her ears and then neon orange to the frizzy ends. I can't decide if she had pissed off her hairdresser or is morphing into a monarch butterfly. I call her Hairwoman.