Teacher bailing 8 weeks into the school year

[dakcp2001]

I'm disgusted by the sense of entitlement. I am thrilled for this teacher. May she have more reasonable and down to earth parents to work with at her new school. The teacher does not owe you, nor anyone else anything. She is a grown adult who is free to move positions as she sees fit. Perhaps if she was treated better, she'd have stayed.

 

[quentina]

As a hiring manager, I always tell my associates...you are personally responsible for your career development.

I never feel sad when someone leaves, I am happy that they are moving on and advancing themselves.

The kids will adapt quickly...

 

[Sabeking]

I taught several years as a Speech Therapist. One year a first grade teacher where I taught left after 2 months because the class had a ton of challenges she could not handle. They were scrambling to find someone. After much prayer and consideration I decided to move into that classroom. At that time I felt that class needed me more. This class was a challenge! Flash forward 15 years. Not to toot my horn but I can't tell you how many parents to this day thank me for stepping into their child's class and providing what they needed. We had a fabulous year together;I have very fond memories. My success was no doubt contributed to the positive attitude and support of the parents. We rallied together and made it work.

Success can be at times about who you surround yourself with. If the parents are naysayers that will only make my job more difficult. Your reaction is half the battle for someone coming in.

It maybe time for a little self reflection. Sometimes situations are allowed in order for us to learn how to cope and react. Not for our children who already no how to do that. Good luck ,I believe you will look back and say, gee what was all the fuss about.

 

[MrProjectionist]

As a teacher, I pray for this incoming teacher. Parents like this OP are a major reason for high turn over in schools. The tone and attitude of this OP and parents like her are the single biggest problem in education today. No clue as to the reality of what a teacher does on a daily basis. Unreal.

 

[CPT Tripss]

I take issue with the "bailing" in the thread title. The poor woman is leaving to advance her career -- it's not like she's throwing in the towel on teaching.

Would it be wrong if someone decides that teaching isn't for them and resigns mid-term.

 

[Planogirl]

This thread only makes me marvel even more at what teachers have to deal with. It's a wonder that there is anyone left in the teaching profession.

 

[pigletgirl]

Honestly? Forgive the teacher. Your anger isn't going to make anything effective happen. Chances are, your son will pick up on your anxieties and react.

Take a deep breath. It will all work out in the end. Have some faith. In 10 years you won't even hardly remember.

Go take a walk and eat some chocolate. Hang in there, OP.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

I say teachers should be able to leave during the middle of the year if they want to do so. Personally I would not hold it against anybody who left, just wish that person in whatever endeavor they choose. I have actually seen a teacher leave about 1/3 of the way through the year to take a teaching position in another school district in another state. I say good for her, she got to move to an area where she wanted to live and have a job doing what she wanted to do.

 

[ilovefh]

Growing up both of my parents were teachers. At that time it was unheard of for a teacher to leave mid year. That kind of loyalty just does not exist anymore on the part of the teacher. However, this is partly because there is no loyalty from the school district.

Take my district for example. We have a new math teacher who moved here from out of state for this job. She has the least amount of seniority on our team. Last week we had FTE week where they count our kids and assign us money and tell us how many teachers we can have based on how many kids we have. Our math classes are small this year and if the district says we have too many math positions guess what? She loses her job, two months into the school year! Now are candidates told that when they're hired? No way! No one would take the job!

Two years ago we lost a few elementary teachers because of this.

Add to that the growing demands of teaching and it's just not the same profession anymore. We just learned in our building that our principal expects us to give up 2 planning periods a week for something that is supposed to be voluntary, but we're told if we don't come we're still responsible for the information. So now I have 3 planning periods per week, one of which is shooter because of early release. The amount of things I take home just got larger.

Sadly there is a good chance I may leave my classroom before the end of the year. We're in the process of moving back home and DH just applied for a great job. If he gets it we'll have to move ASAP. While one moving and the other staying behind until June works for some people it doesn't work for us so I would be following him shortly after.

So OP, while I feel badly for you that the transition will be rough, I can't fault the teacher for taking her "dream job." Let's face it, with the limited openings in schools today that dream job won't be open in June. Sorry, but she has to put her family above yours.

 

[Minniesgal]

I taught for 5 years and it is attitudes like his that had me leave the profession and go back to engineering. My final year of teaching I was pregnant and my baby was luckily due during the summer break. When the fifth set of parents asked me not to take a maternity leave after the birth in the following school year because it wasn't fair on their kid to have to get used to a new teacher in the following school year I quit outright and never went back. Teachers are human too not machines and it is time parents were reminded of that.

 

[mhsjax]

A teacher died yesterday in Nevada, protecting his students. How many teachers died in Sandy Hook last year?

We literally expect their blood, don't we?

I don't think that this has anything to do with the posters complaint, not that I agree with her being angry.

Almost any adult will protect children, it is something we do, it isn't just teachers, and no I don't think we expect their blood. I am sure it isn't in the job description, but something that is just done on instinct.

Very strange post.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

Since when did it become our jobs as parents to dictate teacher lives. Or anyone's for that matter. Nobody but this teacher knows why she chose to leave. It is not anybody's business. Admin is not going to go tell parents why a teacher left or that other parents complained. If they did then it's no wonder the teacher left.
It us our jobs as parents to support our teachers and work with them, not police their activity or complain about every little thing.

 

[Nancyg56]

The time to quit a teaching job is between the school years.

Really? Please share with me the set of rules and regulations that you have created for teachers, and let's discuss why teachers are held to a standard that you are not held to. The appropriate time to leave any job is when you need to leave. Not some artificial end of period that someone who has absolutely nothing to do with my career has determined absolute.

Love this circular logic: Can't be mad unless I know the background, and I have no right to know the background!

yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Actually, it makes sense to me. I don't know when teachers gave up their right to privacy, but it seems to me that you have decided that your right to know supersedes a teachers right to private decisions.

This is definitely the model I grew up with and the high standards I hold teachers to.

Sadly, everyone seems to have lost their standards these days.

It is called self preservation My husband has been employed at the same address for over 40 years. He was 18 when he started there and the company felt a loyalty to their employees, and those employees returned that loyalty. Well, times sure have changed. The drivers are treated like they are expendable and in fact they are. They have no sense of security, none. How can you ask people to risk their own future so that you can entertain the fantasy that all is well in OZ?

Update: I didn't speak to the teacher but I did speak to the principal in order to understand what happens next for his class -- and I wasn't the first person who called. Other families have already set up meetings with this as yet un-named incoming teacher. I now have all the background on teacher's motivations, etc. (And I did not ask for it; it was volunteered.) Nothing remotely tragic; more along the lines of a "dream job."

The good news is that this was no temporary job, as so many speculated; and since it was posted on Friday, there have been more than 60 applications for it. There should be over 100 by the time they start interviewing. There will be much less time with a sub that I was anticipating; they will be able to move fast.

I am hopeful that this time they are able to fill the role with a dedicated teacher who actually wants THIS job and isn't just using it as a mere steppingstone to the next job. Since there are so many applicants, I want it to be his/her "dream job" for the sake of the new teacher and all the kids in her class.

For those who tried to understand, even a little bit, thanks! And thanks to those who offered unique perspectives.

We all understood that you were worried about your child What most of us questioned was your sense of entitlement in regards to a teacher's personal career decisions? I am still a little confused why you would think that an unemployed teacher is the answer that would best suit this classroom. Unless you are part of the hiring process for this teacher, I cannot understand your involvement.

A teacher died yesterday in Nevada, protecting his students. How many teachers died in Sandy Hook last year?

We literally expect their blood, don't we?

Yes we do, literally and figuratively.

I don't think that this has anything to do with the posters complaint, not that I agree with her being angry.

Almost any adult will protect children, it is something we do, it isn't just teachers, and no I don't think we expect their blood. I am sure it isn't in the job description, but something that is just done on instinct.

Very strange post.

This is true, most adults would lay down their lives for children. However, how many of us know that our place of employment is the preferred choice when a mass murderer is charting a path of destruction? How many of us work for a system that is considering mandatory training in firearms? This is a discussion that is occurring in several school districts. How many of us have to drill our charges in "terror training"? And honestly, depending on where a teacher is employed, this is an unwritten paragraph on a contract. My niece was a behaviorist in a Hartford school, and you would cringe at what she encountered. She needed bodyguards when she needed to make home visits. We need to get rid of the fantasy that teachers all work in Mayberry. Even small "nice" towns are not the safe havens we all want them to be. I live in CT, reside in a small lovely town, have a granddaughter attending school in our town, and after Sandy Hook, have even a more profound respect for the people who we place our children with on a daily basis. It boggles me that in addition to the professional qualifications we ask of our teachers, there are some parents who now believe we are entitled to have a say in personal decisions as well. The reality is that most of us would never be able to meet the standards that the OP has asked of the teachers in her district.

 

[mhsjax]

Really? Please share with me the set of rules and regulations that you have created for teachers, and let's discuss why teachers are held to a standard that you are not held to. The appropriate time to leave any job is when you need to leave. Not some artificial end of period that someone who has absolutely nothing to do with my career has determined absolute.



Actually, it makes sense to me. I don't know when teachers gave up their right to privacy, but it seems to me that you have decided that your right to know supersedes a teachers right to private decisions.



It is called self preservation My husband has been employed at the same address for over 40 years. He was 18 when he started there and the company felt a loyalty to their employees, and those employees returned that loyalty. Well, times sure have changed. The drivers are treated like they are expendable and in fact they are. They have no sense of security, none. How can you ask people to risk their own future so that you can entertain the fantasy that all is well in OZ?




We all understood that you were worried about your child What most of us questioned was your sense of entitlement in regards to a teacher's personal career decisions? I am still a little confused why you would think that an unemployed teacher is the answer that would best suit this classroom. Unless you are part of the hiring process for this teacher, I cannot understand your involvement.



Yes we do, literally and figuratively.



This is true, most adults would lay down their lives for children. However, how many of us know that our place of employment is the preferred choice when a mass murderer is charting a path of destruction? How many of us work for a system that is considering mandatory training in firearms? This is a discussion that is occurring in several school districts. How many of us have to drill our charges in "terror training"? And honestly, depending on where a teacher is employed, this is an unwritten paragraph on a contract. My niece was a behaviorist in a Hartford school, and you would cringe at what she encountered. She needed bodyguards when she needed to make home visits. We need to get rid of the fantasy that teachers all work in Mayberry. Even small "nice" towns are not the safe havens we all want them to be. I live in CT, reside in a small lovely town, have a granddaughter attending school in our town, and after Sandy Hook, have even a more profound respect for the people who we place our children with on a daily basis. It boggles me that in addition to the professional qualifications we ask of our teachers, there are some parents who now believe we are entitled to have a say in personal decisions as well. The reality is that most of us would never be able to meet the standards that the OP has asked of the teachers in her district.

I am not agreeing with what the OP is feeling, but this isn't about teachers defending kids against murderer's, it is about a teacher leaving for another job. Not even in the same ball park.

I respect teachers and I could never be one, (would not deal with parents). But I still found this post to be an odd comment. It had nothing to do with the OP's complaint.

Now if would be different is the post stated, teachers give so much they defend our kids, let's give them the opportunity, without judging, to better themselves. But no , it was a simple comment about how we literally expect blood from them. IMHO, this comment was way off base.

Oh and don't take this as I am not thankful and grateful that teachers do put themselves in harm's way, I just don't see what it has to do with the OP's complaint, at least as it was written I don't.

 

[Nancyg56]

I am not agreeing with what the OP is feeling, but this isn't about teachers defending kids against murderer's, it is about a teacher leaving for another job. Not even in the same ball park.



Oh and don't take this as I am not thankful and grateful that teachers do put themselves in harm's way, I just don't see what it has to do with the OP's complaint, at least as it was written I don't.

I know that you were not on board with the OP. I think that post was just an extension of the level of commitment that some feel our teachers should have, as well as the pressure teachers are under in regards to the additional responsibilities teachers must agree to in order to do their jobs.

The OP was not "disappointed" that her child needed to make an adjustment. She was "disgusted" to the point that he felt entitled to go to the school and ell that teacher how she felt. In what profession are customers allowed to demonstrate that level of interference?I think her attitude is an extension of the attitude that teachers should be held to a standard that includes bloodletting. Again, literally and figuratively. I would not dwell on it much.

 

[Mkrop]

There are a lot of unemployed teachers in this state. I hope it's one of them.

Wouldnt you want it to be the BEST teacher that applys for this job, whether that person is employed or not? I would love to see someone unemployed get a job also but I also want the best person qualified in that position not just a warm body. And just like this teacher left and created an opening, maybe the teacher who comes may be from a different school or even your school and create an opening for one of those unemployed teachers...see how that works.

Look at the postive OP, maybe this teacher will be better than the last and maybe this move might just create an opening for someone else.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Teachers are human and things happen. So she left for another job. Clearly she was not committed to this job which is not good for the kids long term.

I tend to look at it as maybe things will be better for the kids.

 

[clori]

At my girls k thru 8 school two years ago the 5&6th grade English teacher retired the end of December. My dd was a tad anxious since she liked the teacher and had her over a year. The new teacher came in to introduce herself during the old teacher's last week. My dd liked her and was no longer anxious at all. Both the old and new teachers wre/are good teachers. I will be pleased if my youngest gets the new teacher next year. The kids were told in September about the retirement and in no way did the teacher slack off.

Last year my younger dd's 3rd grade teacher retired in December. She told parents in September but asked that we wait a bit to tell the kids. She was hoping to find out if the new teacher would be hired early enough and available to come in to meet the kids a few times just for fun. I liked the retiring teacher and understood her wanting to avoid the winter commute due to her own health issues and difficulty shoveling etc. the teacher who retired came back one day at the end of the year to see a play the kids performed.

The new teacher did come a few times. My dd liked her her ok but she really was not a great teacher. Unfortunately she had issues with classroom management. I know at one point they had a sub another class so that another teacher could come in to try and figure out what was going on with either the teacher or the class. Many times the principal and vp also went in for bits of time. According to my dd the teacher just dd not know what to do to get a few kids to pay attention. It was not the best year academically though my dd did fine overall. The retired teacher came back to visit once at the end of the school year. The new teacher was not hired back for this year.

Yes I would prefer teachers retiring at the end of the school year. However some have personal reasons for leaving at other times. I remember my own 4th grade I had a long term sub due to heart issues with my regular teacher. I had the sub from Say Nov thru April. I did not like the regular teacher so was upset when she came back.

 

[mhsjax]

I know that you were not on board with the OP. I think that post was just an extension of the level of commitment that some feel our teachers should have, as well as the pressure teachers are under in regards to the additional responsibilities teachers must agree to in order to do their jobs.

The OP was not "disappointed" that her child needed to make an adjustment. She was "disgusted" to the point that he felt entitled to go to the school and ell that teacher how she felt. In what profession are customers allowed to demonstrate that level of interference?I think her attitude is an extension of the attitude that teachers should be held to a standard that includes bloodletting. Again, literally and figuratively. I would not dwell on it much.

I agree, it is a sad thing that teachers, at this point, have to fear that at some point they may be faced with defending their kids with their lives. It is a sad commentary on society.

I feel for teachers, I really do.

 

[FireDancer]

Nothing remotely tragic; more along the lines of a "dream job."

That is good, you and everyone else should be happy for anyone that manages to land their dream job. Most workers will retire and die before they can say they found theirs.