Not to complain again, but...

As I read the following quote in Freire's chapter on "The 'Banking' Concept of Education," I immediately thought of the way our principals see the teachers (especially the "specials" teachers) in my school:

"Indeed, the interests of the oppressors lie in "changing the consciousness of the oppressed, not the situation which oppresses them;"' for the more the oppressed can be let to adapt to that situation, the more easily they can be dominated."

I really wasn't going to cry about my job again this week, but the following event shows why this Freire quote struck me:

As I wrote last week, my colleague has put together some very interesting Powerpoint presentations to use in his music class this year, and so far, the children have really responded well. As I already said, our principal let him know that if math or science or reading needs the Powerpoint projector, music does not get it. However, a new low was reached when my colleague went to the main office to pick up the projector and it was not there. He had given the vice principal a copy of dates and periods he would need to use the projector, but when he went into the vice principal's office to inquire about the missing projector, she answered that it was set up two floors down for an administrators' meeting the next morning. My colleague then asked her what he should do in his class that was starting in five minutes, and she plainly told him that administrative use trumps the use for the music department. Clearly, in the administrator's mind, my colleague should just adapt to the situation he was given. My question is, what about the students?