Why is this bothering me? (county, English, organic chemistry, geometry)

[Ivorytickler]

Originally Posted by wyolady

Did your Masters require you to student teach?

Yes.

[Oleg Bach]

It appears clear from what you describe that your fellow staff and the administration are more interested in serving themselves and doing favors for their own peers than serving the students with the best they can offer. Sounds like this institution has forgotten their own mandate- that the best interests of the students comes before the wants and personal needs of staff...I would not only find this attitude irritating but a bit heart breaking that you are held back from doing your best and providing the best for your wards.

[Ivorytickler]

Originally Posted by Oleg Bach

It appears clear from what you describe that your fellow staff and the administration are more interested in serving themselves and doing favors for their own peers than serving the students with the best they can offer. Sounds like this institution has forgotten their own mandate- that the best interests of the students comes before the wants and personal needs of staff...I would not only find this attitude irritating but a bit heart breaking that you are held back from doing your best and providing the best for your wards.

If I thought they were doing this in the best interest of the students, I'd be 110% on board. They didn't. They did it to hire one particular candidate who didn't have the certs they needed with no regard as to what was best for the students.

I'm at a point where I'd rather be where I'm placed to the benefit of the students not for the convenience of the adminstration and those they want to hire. Unfortunately, I fear this is typical....which would make the dismal state of education in this country understandable.

[Oleg Bach]

Originally Posted by Ivorytickler

If I thought they were doing this in the best interest of the students, I'd be 110% on board. They didn't. They did it to hire one particular candidate who didn't have the certs they needed with no regard as to what was best for the students.

I'm at a point where I'd rather be where I'm placed to the benefit of the students not for the convenience of the adminstration and those they want to hire. Unfortunately, I fear this is typical....which would make the dismal state of education in this country understandable.

People who get into public serv coice whether it be government or teaching..used to be a certain type of individual...just like doctors used to be..Now you ask a young person why they want to be a doctor and the answer is usually because the money is good.

I remember old school teachers- I was a poor student and was held back a couple of times- The best teacher I had was in grade 8...He instilled one thing in me that has served me all my life- a love and a lust for learning. This guy really wanted to change the world and bring out the best in his students.


My sister inlaw has been teaching French just north of Toronto for the last 20 years...oddly- she can not carry out a conversation in French.


Don't let those who have lost sight why they are teachers bring you down- keep your head up and above all do NOT get emotional..If you want to control your professional environment- Control yourself...You are too sensitive to things that don't matter- trudge on and as the the British used to say..."stay calm and carry on" - If you give up the dumb ones win...don't surrender..good luck my friend- the students need you- and will love and remember you.

[jps-teacher]

Originally Posted by Ivorytickler

If I thought they were doing this in the best interest of the students, I'd be 110% on board. They didn't. They did it to hire one particular candidate who didn't have the certs they needed with no regard as to what was best for the students.

This is baloney.

a) They hired this person because they believed the combination of his teaching Physics & Chem and your teaching Chem & Math was better than the alternatives. You have zero evidence to the contrary.

b) The candidate had the certs they needed, if they were willing to shift you to the other classes. They were - so the certs were fine.

I get that you don't like it and you resent their preferring the other teacher.

Don't make your upset blind you to the truth - if the school is correct about this teacher's ability, the students will be better served.

[sll3454]

Originally Posted by jps-teacher

This is baloney.

a) They hired this person because they believed the combination of his teaching Physics & Chem and your teaching Chem & Math was better than the alternatives. You have zero evidence to the contrary.

b) The candidate had the certs they needed, if they were willing to shift you to the other classes. They were - so the certs were fine.

I get that you don't like it and you resent their preferring the other teacher.

Don't make your upset blind you to the truth - if the school is correct about this teacher's ability, the students will be better served.

Yep. The whole thread has been about OP not feeling valued. It has not been about what's best for the students.

[Ivorytickler]

Originally Posted by jps-teacher

This is baloney.

a) They hired this person because they believed the combination of his teaching Physics & Chem and your teaching Chem & Math was better than the alternatives. You have zero evidence to the contrary.

b) The candidate had the certs they needed, if they were willing to shift you to the other classes. They were - so the certs were fine.

I get that you don't like it and you resent their preferring the other teacher.

Don't make your upset blind you to the truth - if the school is correct about this teacher's ability, the students will be better served.

Actually, this candidate didn't have the certs they needed. Had they posted for what they needed, this guy would not have been a candidate. They posted assuming I'd be bumped from chemistry by the new hire which opened the door for this guy. This isn't about them thinking the combination of he and I teaching is best. It's about using my certs to bring him in and the message is clear. Now that he's in, there's only one thing left for me to do and that is leave. I'm working on a plan to do just that. I will spend the next year and a half looking for an engineering job. If that doesn't pan out, and at my age with me having been out of the game for 5 years, it might not, I'll go with plan B, get national certs and use them to find a position where I'm actually valued as a teacher. Either way, I will be out in two years and, hopefully, on to a job where I feel valued for what I do instead of valued for my ability to help them hire the person they really wanted. It's gonna suck working next to the guy they really wanted but I can do anything for 2 years and, who knows, maybe this guy is as good as they think he is and I might learn something.

The bottom line is they have the candidate they really wanted and that's all that matters at the end of the day. That leaves me with zero job security as if the departing teacher returns the year after next (he's on leave), I will be the one pink slipped over the favorite son (not being snotty here, it's just the best way to describe this). I have to look out for myself and I'd prefer to work for a school that values what I bring to the table NOT that my certs are flexible and let them hire someone else.

[maciesmom]

Sooo....your admin's biggest concern is how to get rid of you personally (and for no reason since obviously, this other teacher is no way as good as you - which you KNOW) not how best to serve their students? Sorry, sounds a bit paranoid. Seek help.

[Ivorytickler]

Originally Posted by sll3454

Yep. The whole thread has been about OP not feeling valued. It has not been about what's best for the students.

I don't feel valued. If this move had been what was in the best interest of the students, I would feel valued for that. It is not being valued that does bother me but the evidence for not being valued stems from this move not being in the best interest of the students. Had it been, I'd be on board 110%. It's not. We have no reason to believe that this move will be of benefit to the students I will teach math to next year. How can it be when I've never taught math before? What they did is bump me to classes I've never taught before so they could hire this guy. That is, seriously, NOT in the best interest of the students I will teach math to next year. In time, I may become a good math teacher but I haven't cut my math teeth here yet. We already know I can teach chemistry. I have three years of increased scores for my students at two different schools to show that.

[Ivorytickler]

Originally Posted by maciesmom

Sooo....your admin's biggest concern is how to get rid of you personally (and for no reason since obviously, this other teacher is no way as good as you - which you KNOW) not how best to serve their students? Sorry, sounds a bit paranoid. Seek help.

I do think they are trying to get rid of me. And I have not said this guy cannot be as good as me. For all I know he is betterand they're in the right bringing him and getting rid of me (that's the message they're sending. His extreme arrogance bothers me as the only time I've seen arrogance of this magnitude, the people were all talk no substance, so that has me worried.). However, I do know that I am a good teacher and to some district out there I could be valued. Maybe I don't measure up when placed next to the favorite son but I could still measure up somewhere else where I'm not being compared to him. My choice is to find that school.

This guy was the candidate they really wanted when they hired me (hence changing the posting to fit his credentials and using my math cert to cover the portion of the open position he cannot teach). He accepted another position before we finished interviewing which left me as the top candidate so they hired me. Now they have the chance to hire him and they took it. I don't blame them. He's what they wanted in the first place. However, that leaves me as the undesirable. The one who would not even be here if they had hired him two years ago. It's going to be difficult going to work every day knowing that and now I have students dissing me because they think I've been demoted and then I have to worry about getting pink slipped at the end of next year if the physics/math teacher comes back. It's a lot to deal with on top of teaching teenagers which is a lot to deal with anyway.

Given a choice, my preference is to work somewhere where they make decisions in the best interest of the students and I am actually valued for more than having the right cert to allow them to hire the person they really want. Seriously, if that's all I'm worth to them, I don't belong here.