Wow, this is a powerful story by a student trapped at one of NYC's many chronically failing schools – in particular, one of the schools Joel Klein is trying to shut down for persistent educational malpractice. As you read this poor girl's story, ask yourself who the teachers union was looking out for when the sued (so far successfully) to keep this disgrace open:

If I could burn down this school and get away with it, I would. I despise it.

I got accepted to Louis Brandeis HS in Manhattan, but my mom said, "That's too far away. You can't go that far." She said, "Go to Paul Robeson." We live across the street, and it was her high school, too. It was bad when she went here, and it's still bad.

There are cameras everywhere. They think you're going to be afraid of the cameras. I'm not sure they even work, or if they check them.

Kids smoke weed in the halls and stairwells. The boys have a motto: "I don't go to high school. I go to school high." I asked one guy what he wanted to be when he grew older. He said, "A drug dealer." Most of the girls are pregnant or have babies. There's a free day-care center here with about 20 babies.

The boys pressure you. A lot of girls will do anything and everything in the staircase -- 90 percent of the time it's giving the boys oral sex. My friend saw a girl sitting on a boy; her shirt was off. It was gross. One time we walked up the back staircase and found two used condoms on a step. No guards or teachers walk up that way.

There's lots of fighting. My God, do they fight. One guy got hit so hard he started bleeding and had a seizure in the cafeteria. There was a tag fight, where one person gets pulled out and their friend jumps in. A security guard trying to break it up was pushed down the stairs.

…I want this school to close so bad. I don't want to be stuck here.

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