It's dedicated to 

Bed-Stuy 

It's representing of 

Brownsville 

It's representing of 

Bushwick 

It's dedicated to 

Fort Greene 

A matter fact I hold 

Brooklyn 

Or better yet the whole 

New York 

Or better yet the whole 

America 

It's going out to all 

Worldwide 



[Refrain:] 

Welcome to Brooklyn Public 

One of the hardest places to work 

So please don't apply 

Unless you really love it 



It's nine to five or rather eight to three 

It's really five to nine, A to P 

If it's your job place nothing above it 



You make more in other places 

With higher property tax and less faces 

But if that's what you covet 

You ought to ask yourself if this is where you want to be 

To help you by I'll try to paint a picture of it 





One class, 31 students, 32 chairs, 25 desks 

I guess they gotta share 

19 textbooks and most are missing pages 

Junior high: three grades, but six different ages 



Teaches and janitors double as deans 

Deans double as security guards and crime scene investigators 

Older teachers need respirators. At elevators 

The bad odors from the back stairs are made of 

Gutter (garshavegas?) used condoms and puddles of piss 

Try not to slip there in a fire drill 



Every now and then a scandal might reach the paper 

For every story, there's thirty in the category 

Hard work and progress are on display in the hallways 

Demoralized and vandalized every day 



Lessons cut short to prep for tests that only test how well you prep 

Man, no wonder why the score's a mess 

Knuckle-heads begging for detention or suspension 

Truthfully told, they really only crave attention 

Some kids showing up unprepared and dirty 

'Cause their parents gotta punch in by seven thirty 

Shit, some other parents seven thirty 

They put the wrong kids on pills to be still 

Fiending for refills 



Principals with no principles 

Priorities political 

Pedagogical planning is pitiful 



Low on tolerance, high on ridicule 

Even the infirmary's inhospitable 

Assembly required 

Metal detectors seeming unjust but inspired by shots fired 

Terms like zero-tolerance and lock-down 

Aging out, if you ask me, does not sound 

Like education 

But I suppose that's a 'cause and effect' 

When the city spends more on incarceration 



[Refrain] 



Grown-up, roam the halls with me 

So many characters 

Some sweet some shifty 

Some loud some quiet 

Some trusting, some don't buy it - don't try it 

Some'll try to squash beef and some start riots 

Some are motivated some are lazy 

Some are geniuses some are crazy 

The line between is hazy 

Some'll love you some'll hate you 

Some'll need you some'll spite you 

Some are thankful, some are ungrateful 



Yo, some are there and really care 

About what's being learned and taught 

They fought through it when they got stuck 

Some are there 'till the bell rings 

Run through the day without thinking 

'Cause they really don't give a fuck 

Some'll run some'll fight 

Some'll tell, some might change the world 

Some are early to the grave or jail 



Some are so complicated, some are so simple 

Some are students, some are teachers 

Some are principals 



[Refrain] 



Come upstairs, keep roaming the halls with me 

Some many characters, some sweet some shifty 

Like I said, some are complicated some are simple 

Some are students, some are teachers 

Some are principals 

The littlest thugs walk like they are invincible 

Comical, just look at little Dexter 

Yo, he got the type of Napoleon complex to 

Step in front of Devon, twice his size, just to get him vexed but 

Devon's a gentle giant 

Thirteen, five foot eleven 

His mom's a nurse and his dad's a reverend 

Every now and then he gets irreverent...