[aside to camera:]
Melissa: Uh... Melissa. Schemmenti. Second-grade teacher.
[in class room:]
Melissa: What's half of 100?
Children: 50.
Melissa: Also, $100, known as a C-note.
[aside to camera:]
Melissa: You Sicilian? Italian? You from South? Okay, you guys working with the cops? 'Cause you gotta tell me.

Janine: Hey, it's not impossible to get things. Melissa asked for those new toy cash registers for her classroom and got them.
Melissa: Yeah, those aren't toys. I know a guy who worked a Walmart demolition. I got a guy for everything. I know a guy right now working the stadium build. Need rebar?
Janine: No.

Barbara: Janine. Turn that down, please! I'm trying to teach my kindergartners the letter "C," and they are distracted by this song. It's like "Back That Azz Up" for kids.
Janine: Hey, guys, um, could you sit down, please? [music continues] Guys, I'm gonna count to 3. 1... 2...
Barbara: And I am not counting. Sit down! [music stops]
[aside to camera:]
Barbara: I'm Barbara Howard, woman of God. I do my work, I go home. I get my nails done every week. And... I love teaching.

Ava: Okay. Oh. So, not good. Ms. Schwartz was out of line and clearly didn't know how to handle her class.
Melissa: You hired her.
Ava: And fired her. They give me a lot of power around here. It's crazy. In the meantime, Mr. Johnson will be watching her class.
Janine: Wait. Sorry. Mr. Johnson, the janitor?
[cut to Mr. Johnson in front of a whiteboard which reads "Illuminati":]
Mr. Johnson: That's who runs the world, kids.

Barbara: Janine, ignore Ava. Big feet are a sign of fertility.
Janine: Every lunch period, Barbara. Every single one, Amir comes and naps on the rug.
Barbara: Mm-hmm. He was in my class. Mom's got a lot of kids. Dad's not around, and when he is, the parents fight.
Janine: Right. So he doesn't get much sleep. I told him to sleep at his desk, but he says the rug is softer... softer than his bed at home. You know what? I don't care if you think I'm good at this or not anymore. I care about whether or not I can make a change.
Barbara: Janine, teachers at a school like Abbott... we have to be able to do it all. We are admin. We are social workers. We are therapists. We are second parents. Hell, sometimes, we're even first.
Melissa: Mm-hmm.
Barbara: Why? Heh, it sure ain't the money.
Melissa: Mm-hmm. I could make more working the street... easy. Look, we do this 'cause we're supposed to. It's a calling.
Janine: Mm.
Melissa: You answered.

Janine: Oh, Nina, excellent sentence structure. Let me see. "My favorite movie is Toy Story, and my favorite character is Woody." Good. Mine too. Well, more of a Buzz girl. I love his ambition. Right, guys?
Girl: Yeah.
Janine: Okay, let's see. Uh, Brittany. "My favorite movie is American Gangster. Yep. And my favorite character is Frank Lucas." Okay. That is a great sentence. And I will be having a third talk with your mom about what you're watching at home.

Jacob: Janine, Janine, you're not gonna believe this. Rachel freakin' Maddow just retweeted me.
Janine: Wow!
Jacob: So I basically work for MSNBC.
[aside to camera:]
Jacob: I'm Jacob Hill. Uh, I like to say I teach history, but I live in the present.
[separately to camera:]
Janine: Jacob and I came in together last year with 20 other teachers. We're two of the three left. So trauma bonding, I guess?

Ava: Hey-yo! What it do, baby-boos? What y'all think about this little film crew I brought in here?
Melissa: Distracting, makes our jobs harder. But exciting. We about to be on TV.
Barbara: Because they are covering underfunded, poorly managed public schools in America.
Ava: No press is bad press, Barb. Look at Mel Gibson. Still thriving. [laughs] Daddy's Home 2? Hilarious!
[aside to camera:]
Janine: Ava's our principal. She has a... unique take on her job.
[separately to camera:]
Melissa: She's bad at her job. What's unique is that she's bad at her job.

Janine: You know, a little support might help make things happen, ladies.
Barbara: My support was gonna do about as much as that five-year-old bra you've got on right there.

Ava: Anyway, I always feel better when I get my hair done. Thus, I do better work, like I'm doing now. You know, fix the outside, inside takes care of itself.
[Ava pulls down a sheet covering a new sign for the school which features a picture of her]
Ava: Y'all seeing this? [stands like she is in the picture]
Janine: A plastic sign?
Ava: Thank God for the school district, 'cause they gave us $3,000, and I had to spend all of it.
Janine: You spent all of the money on this?!
Ava: Rush job. Can you believe this quality?
Barbara: [to Janine] How's that optimism taste?