Getting Rid Of The Old



A friend, not a teacher, wanted to understand how teachers, with tenure and good reputations could be forced out of a job.  It made no sense to her.

We started talking about a mutual friend, a woman who went into teaching later in life, when her first job was done away with.  She works in an elementary school in the Bronx and has always done extremely well with the students and the parents.  All of a sudden things are getting rough for her.  The fifth grade class she always taught was taken from her and she was given fourth grade.  All her previous work was useless and she had to start the year from scratch.  She was unfamiliar with the fourth grade curriculum and had to spend hours becoming acquainted with it. 

The school couldn't get rid of this teacher by U-rating her because she was good.  The administration also had no desire to bring in the union so the contract was strictly kept to.  But, the admin was smart.  They made her school life hard and uncomfortable to the point where they hoped she would leave voluntarily.  She is rethinking her options and it is a good bet they might win.

This same tactic was used on me.  My old AP gave me a program a year ago that included three classes, two which were on my preference sheet (not as first choices), subjects that I either never taught or haven't taught in years.  The goal was to make me leave.  At that time I found an angle and managed to get a different program.  I knew, if I stayed, the same ploy would be used again and this time there would be no way out.  Even when I was given my first choice class (AP calculus) I was always given  low level classes to teach along with it and I was never given the same subject two years in a row so I was constantly writing new lessons.  At first I asked about getting something better, but the answer always was, "I have to be fair.  You have calculus.  Others need good classes too."  Being a union person, I accepted this.  But now that I am gone I see the young woman who took over the AP calculus class is teaching honors pre-calculus along with it (classes she taught for years.)  The AP stat teacher is teaching trig classes (classes she has been teaching for years.)  No one wants these two women to leave, so they are being catered to.

Don't be fooled when you hear the words "quality teacher in every class" because what that really means is young teacher in every class.  Even older teachers that are cheap aren't wanted because they won't jump through hoops to keep everyone happy.