"Sonnet 29": A Drama in Two Acts

The sudden automobile accident death of her adored nineteen-year-old daughter, the loss of her twenty-two-year private school teaching post due to an arson fire that burned her school to the ground, and the stress of separating from her husband are about to send the formerly very stable Lisa Purdue over the edge. Not having a teaching certificate, she's compelled to work in a high school for the "educationally handicapped," aka juvenile criminals and other assorted adolescent misfits.
Purdue's personal mantra is that 'these kids can learn in one way or another.' But, according to her students, as well as the administration, which requires their enrollment numbers to qualify for state funding, 'this population can't learn. You're just beating a dead horse.'
Having tutored her own daughter, Janey, from 'educationally disadvantaged' to high school valedictorian, Purdue remains militantly adamant about proving that her students can and will learn despite some seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
The kids are fed a daily regimen of meds that render them lethargic for much of the school day; the school's funding is dependent on a minimum enrollment that the administration will uphold, underhandedly if necessary, and offering further assistance such as tutoring is never encouraged. But despite the resistance from all sides, Lisa Purdue's determination is unwavering, and she stands willing to pay any price to prove her point.