A Sour End To The School Year

This year really ended on a sour note. Some of what I am about to say really sounds negative, but remember, part of the reason why we have this blog is to relieve stress. Okay, the story begins like this. All this year I have really thought I was going to get a type of job promotion. Then, towards the very end of the year, I found out that someone who I had thought was not after the position swooped down and got the job. Yeah, I know, poor me. Unfortunately, my family could have greatly benifitted from the added income. The second discouragement came at the end of the year as well. Having been hired to teach Chemistry and Physical Science, I have now been demoted to teaching General Science, the lowest level the school offers. I still have three sections of Earth Science, which I do enjoy teaching, but again, that is not what I was hired to do. Perhaps the worst part of the whole deal is that no one has ever told me that I am not doing a bad job. I was once told that I had just over 5% failures in one of my classes, and I had better do a better job if I wanted to keep my job (not exact words, but message was VERY clear). To that end, I shaped up and all my students passed. Much more could be said on this, but I'll leave that alone.

So, where does this all leave me? Well, I have been at this job for nine years now, and I have taken every opportunity to advance my education. I now sit high enough on the salary scale that many schools simply don't want to hire me for that reason. I was told this just today by a superintendent in a district that I was hoping to work in. Schools want to hire new people out of college, because they don't have to pay them very much. In my opinion, there is a good chance this is the reason why I have been demoted. The same type of thing is happening to other teachers who are even older than I am. The general feeling is that we are trying to get pushed out. What are my options? Well, I had an interview yesterday in a small school. Since I can't teach math or driver's education, I don't think I will get that job. I found out today that I didn't even get an interview in another place I was really wanting to go. There are some job fairs in North Carolina that I am thinking about going to. I hear they treat their teachers a little better in that state. Las Vegas is really needing teachers, but that is a little like Lot in the Bible, when he "pitched his tent toward Sodom." Of course, if you know the story, Lot made it out, but his wife turned to a pillar of salt. Hmmm, don't know if Amy would go for that. I might be able to teach underwater in New Orleans, or in the dark in Alaska. Or, of course, in East St. Louis, Chicago, or any other place that teachers don't go because of danger.

I've thought about going back to school. I did some research on what it would take to be a Medical Technologist. Basically, it would mean dragging my family through a really low time for way too long. I'm afraid most programs would be that way. Perhaps nursing would be a little quicker, and Rend Lake sure is pouring out nurses from their program. If it were just me and Amy, I would quit and go back to school to do something else. Not sure what, but something where I felt appreciated. I might even join the military.

Okay, I've had my pity party long enough. If anyone is still reading this, you should have found something better to do after the first paragraph. I'll end by giving a rather ironic bit of information. I picked up the newspaper today, and discovered that I came in second place for best teacher in this year's Best of the Best.