We can always count on Abbott Elementary to highlight the plight of the modern school teacher, whether through its hilarious observational comedy or whole episodes depicting the various obstacles educators face. With SEPTA workers officially on strike, the teachers must adjust to the mayhem halting public transportation causes in a school where most students rely on buses for a ride each day. It’s a strangely coincidental storyline as, in real life, Philadelphia transportation workers threatened to strike in early November before eventually reaching a deal with SEPTA for more financial security. While the fictional workers haven’t yet come to an agreement with the city in this episode, we get to see the imaginative ways Abbott’s teachers persevere for their students while paying homage to one of the best TV teachers of all time.
I continuously emphasize how well Abbott illustrates important social issues without soapboxing. There’s a deep respect for both the demographic being portrayed on screen and the intelligence of the viewers at home while also maintaining the light comedic tone of the show. Abbott has tackled learning disabilities, student accessibility, and funding inequities with incredible empathy, and tonight’s focus on the ripple effects of the SEPTA strike and the importance of safe and reliable transportation falls in line with the show’s ethos. The United States is notoriously behind in terms of optimizing the way we travel, with cars being the priority in both infrastructure and policy, yet, inefficient public transit has a detrimental impact on public health, the environment, and, of course, education. Without government support, the people operating the vehicles that make up public transportation become overworked and underpaid, leading to strikes. Abbott actually gives us a logical solution via Melissa’s sarcastic commentary regarding overhauling the city council to be union-friendly, but since politics could never be that easy, we instead watch the teachers do what they do best and get creative.
Last week, Jacob was the first person affected as the only Philadelphian immediately kicked off a bus after the union officially declared a strike, a consequence of talking the driver’s ear off. But tonight, everyone is impacted by the halt in public transportation (Morton, stuck at home because his ex took his car in the divorce despite already having one of her own, is hilarious), starting with Melissa and Barbara’s nail techs missing their standing appointment. Barbara, a woman who won’t let anything get in the way of a fresh manicure, picks up the techs from their homes and brings them to Abbott instead of the salon to prevent scabbing. Solving that issue is easy enough, but soon, student attendance takes a nosedive as many rely on the bus while their parents make their morning commute, and the school isn’t in walking distance for everyone. One of Jacob’s students actually gets up in the middle of a lesson to ensure he can walk home before the sun goes down while a mom from Janine’s class does her best to get her daughter to school, driving six miles out of the way and calling in late to work, but warns it won’t become an everyday thing.
The strike comes at the worst time for Janine, who only recently understood how important hands-on learning is for her class and is in the middle of a lesson plan that requires groups of students to represent a different planet in our solar system. Saturn is the first abandoned planet, with absolutely no students in attendance to hold up its famous rings (anyone who is into astrology knows how ironic it is that Saturn is the one forgotten; it’s not exactly the fun planet). Janine tries to hold it together with the remaining kids, but as her outer space-loving student Lilah points out, it’s not our solar system without all the planets. Lilah’s excitement about the lesson plan lights a fire under Janine’s ass to make things right, especially since, as Melissa yells through the halls in solidarity, the union workers walked away from negotiations, telling the city to “suck it.” Everyone does their best to adjust. Gregory even stands in as a cafeteria worker, but it’s obvious they need a better solution to keep everyone on track. Ava suggests remote learning, but Jacob and Barbara scoff at the idea as teaching virtually is incredibly difficult, and the school’s main source of Wi-Fi is siphoned from the routers at the neighboring deli. Jacob thinks there’s no way O’Shon will respond to a text — he says hot people are naturally terrible texters — but Ava knows that he’ll always reply to her (you better get your man, Ava!) and gets the IT support the school needs.
Pivoting to remote learning with children is as funny as you’d expect; the kindergartners are adorably chaotic while Barbara struggles with the technology; Janine’s students abuse the animal filters while erupting into giggles; and Jacob teaches to a sea of black squares as the older kids all turn off their cameras and mics. Two students in particular, Chloe from Jacob’s class and Hazel from Barbara’s are especially struggling to keep up with the adjustment. Hazel is disruptive, banging dishes and goofing off on camera, while Chloe keeps leaving the virtual sessions to handle things at home. They finally realize the girls are sisters, and Chloe, the older of the two, is tasked with simultaneously ensuring Hazel pays attention while staying on top of her own schoolwork. Together, Jacob and Barbara meet with Chloe to find a resolution that works for everyone, settling on giving Hazel extra time to play in the morning while Jacob gives Chloe an abbreviated lesson. Then, Chloe can sit with Hazel during her lesson with Barbara, assuring the little one pays attention.
Janine finds it exceptionally hard to continue her interactive lesson with half of the class participating from home, so she taps into the energy of another famous TV teacher to get her kids to school. Not wanting to disappoint a passionate Lilah by pushing back the lesson, she devises a plan to use Ava’s party bus as a mode of transportation that will allow the students to make it to school on time without anyone crossing the picket line. Bright and early, Janine channels her inner Ms. Frizzle (complete with the most darling bus-shaped barrette) and turns Ava’s party bus into a magic school bus. Sure, this bus has party lights and a stripper pole, but it gets the job done. Janine has always followed Ms. Frizzle’s legacy — Quinta once noted in an interview that Janine’s outfits reflect that she believes she’s the modern-day Ms. Frizzle — but this is the closest she’s come to truly stepping into her predecessor’s shoes. Janine beeps the tune to Vengaboys’s Six Flags song on the steering wheel horn as Melissa, who reminds us that being a scab is the “lowest piece of garbage known to Philly,” rides along to guarantee no one but students board the bus, thus keeping the strike in place.
With club hits playing over the speakers accompanied by an LED light show, Janine and Melissa spend two hours picking students up and dodging adults trying to hitch a ride. They successfully grab all the students and Janine is quick on her feet, coming up with a detour to the school to prevent disrupting any protests. The kids make it to school on time, some still wearing remnants of the party bus like a cowboy hat that says “Happy New Year,” and Janine is able to bring all her planets into orbit, creating the cutest model solar system I’ve ever seen. As Janine said, good educators go the extra mile for their kids, even if that mile is having to drive everyone back home (a thought that didn’t occur to her until the end of the episode). I know that party bus ride home was lit!
Teacher’s Notes
• There are some moments where I can just feel that the show probably included real-life quirks from the cast on the show. We know that Cheryl Lee Ralph truly mixes up celebrity names, which has made its way onto the show, but why do I feel like the moment Barbara recounts an entire story about Melissa to Melissa as if she wasn’t there is something Ralph does in real life too. It was just too perfect.
• I’m kind of obsessed with the brewing friendship between O’Shon and Gregory — can we please get a double date in the future?
• Finally, my favorite lines:
This interaction between Ava and Gregory:
Ava: “I hate bosses. That’s why I became a principal, so I don’t have any.”
Gregory: “You have bosses.”
Ava: “Point to them.”
The parent from Janine’s class on whether the city will meet the union’s demands: “Lady, this city tried to murk Santa Claus, they aren’t meeting anybody anywhere.”
Janine’s student, holding onto the pole in the party bus as Janine whips it to Abbott: “I can’t wait to be a fireman!”