This Philly 10th grader has had no English teacher all year. Now, the district wants her to take a high-stakes test.

Kalorena Gonzalez’s English teacher left Martin Luther King High School in October.

“A kid slapped him and he never came back,” said Gonzalez, a motivated student who likes volunteering and is a member of King’s JROTC program.

Since then, Gonzalez, a 10th grader, has had no English teacher. There have been a series of subs — most recently, a man whose name she doesn’t know.

“He doesn’t teach anything, he just takes attendance,” Gonzalez said. “He says nothing.”

No work is assigned, ever, she said.

Next week, Gonzalez and her classmates must take the English Keystone, a test designed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education to assess high school students’ mastery of what educators deem a milestone course. Keystone proficiency is one path to high school graduation.

Gonzalez has no expectation she’ll pass the test. Since October, she has not written an essay, dissected a novel, or delved into a poem. How could she?

“It’s just unfair,” said Gonzalez, who is 15. “It’s like they want us to fail — they haven’t gotten us the proper education.”

School systems nationwide are coping with a teacher shortage; it’s especially acute in urban districts. Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. recently told City Council that as of April, Philadelphia had filled 96.7% of its nearly 8,000 teaching jobs — slightly better than the same time last year, when it had 96.5% of positions filled.

But that still means almost 300 teaching positions are vacant across the city. And Gonzalez’s situation gives a glimpse into the practical, educational cost of such vacancies.

When jobs go unfilled, students are taught by long-term substitutes, some of whom have classroom experience; by retired teachers; or by people who attempt some kind of instruction. Or they might fall into situations like the one Gonzalez describes.

Christina Clark, a district spokesperson, said in a statement that the school system “strives to make sure there are highly-qualified, well-supported teachers for our students every day."

Gonzalez’s class, Clark said, has had a long-term substitute for the duration of her teacher’s leave. She noted that Pennsylvania allows students to retake Keystone exams through 11th grade.

“While we encourage students to take the test, there are exemptions provided, although students will still be required to meet the graduation requirements through a different pathway to graduation,” Clark said.

When her original English teacher abruptly disappeared, it initially felt like a vacation, Gonzalez said.

“After a month, then two, three, four, five, I was like, ‘This is not funny, we’re not learning,’” she said. “I would like my teacher back, or at least a teacher to teach for him.”

It doesn’t bother every student in the class, Gonzalez said. Some don’t care; some are just used to getting less, she said.

To pass the time, people “are just chilling,” she said. “Everyone’s on their phones, or they’re just talking.”

That’s if they show up at all. English is first period, so at times, Gonzalez and her classmates don’t bother coming to school for English.

“Sometimes, I just stay home and get more rest, or get ready, or make breakfast,” she said.

Despite essentially being warehoused with no instruction, Gonzalez and her classmates are now receiving grades based solely on attendance, she said. (One early substitute did attempt to teach and assign work, Gonzalez said, but she couldn’t stay long-term.)

Gonzalez is “a big person for fairness,” she said. When she realized the Keystones were coming up, she decided she had to do something. She talked to a few teachers she trusted to see what they might be able to do.

“They said, ‘Oh, that’s above me,’” Gonzalez said. But she heard the school board was in charge of the district, and speaking at a board meeting was a way to make her voice heard in a way that was public, difficult to deny. So Gonzalez wrote a speech out in a spiral-bound notebook and got herself to the April board meeting.

“I’m here today to advocate for my school in providing social equality in education,” she said in a steady voice, facing Watlington and the nine-member school board. “At my school, each grade does not have at least one or more teachers present to teach.”

The board expects MLK sophomores to take the English Keystones “without us being taught English the whole year,” Gonzalez said. “I think, and I hope others will agree, that this is completely unfair and ridiculous. Each student deserves to have a proper education to prepare them for upcoming life, so they can thrive in the real world. Not having a teacher for a major subject is a significant disadvantage. The absence of guidance impacts on their preparation, knowledge of the material, and overall test performance.”

On behalf of her fellow students at MLK, in East Germantown, Gonzalez asked the board for an exemption from taking the English Keystone.

Folks wonder why high numbers of Philadelphians are in jail, experiencing housing insecurity, or using drugs, Gonzalez said. One reason?

“When we don’t have the proper and ideal education,” she said. With a looming district budget deficit, the city could “see these problems increase, while the empowered are given more money each day, and people like me struggle to make that money each year.”

School board president Reginald Streater thanked Gonzalez for her words.

“I affirm for the board that I think when students come and speak, it is very effective,” Streater said. “We would love to see more of you, more of the students at MLK and at other schools as well, come to board meetings and speak out.”

Gonzalez said she was promised the chance to speak with an assistant superintendent, but as of Thursday had heard nothing about such a meeting, and as far as she knows, all the students who have had no English teacher for months will be expected to take the Keystones.