My Job Situation

Yes, I got pink-slipped. But getting a pinkslip in the field of education is not like getting one when you work at a cube-farm.

First, this isn't set in stone yet. Technically, I've been notified that I may be laid off. There will be a series of hearings at the end of April, where tie-breaking will occur. Tie-breaking means they'll look at everything--the degrees and credentials held, the date of hire, and in cases where two teachers were hired on the same day, they'll look at what time the teacher was hired.

None of this is particularly fair, to be sure--it's possible that lousy teachers get kept while good teachers are laid off--but it's as fair as we can get it now. 700 teachers received notices, and the district is looking to lose only about 170, most of those from Elementary and Adult education. They're only eliminating about 24 English teachers, so my odds are good--because I'm pretty sure that more than 24 English teachers started in the last four years.

That said, it is possible that, come May 15, I'll be notified that I do not have a job with the district next year. Even if that happens, though, I'm not dead yet. Not only will schools be scrambling to fill positions over the summer (last year, 180 teachers were laid off; all but 40 were hired back by the end of the summer), but I will be applying to every district in the region just in case. I'm a fifth-year teacher of English. That's not quite as good as being a Math or Science teacher, but it's a hell of a lot better than being a Social Studies teacher--they're terribly impacted.

Recent news reports suggest that the best career path to stay employed and find new work in the next year is in Education. I'm already fully credentialed, I meet all NCLB stupidities requirements, and I have four years of pretty solid evaluations. The odds of my finding a job are pretty good.

Even if I don't, I can take other work and still have 3 years during which I can be rehired at SCUSD with full seniority intact. And, in fact, if it comes to that, it's nice, because nobody gets to say "no." I see an opening, I call up HR, ID myself, and claim the job. I might have to compete with someone else who's been laid off, but that's pretty rare. Also, I'm trained in AP teaching, and have approved AP courses, so I look good to high schools, especially if they want to expand their AP offerings.

Now, as to my position being eliminated from Carver High . . . there it gets a little weirder. IF I survive the layoff, then it's easy--I go to the "surplussing" meeting at the end of May/Early June, look at the lists of openings in the district left by either laid off or retired teachers, and pick one. Provided nobody with higher seniority wants it (and most of them would already have chosen a job), I get it. I will probably end up at a school I don't want to go to, but meh.

Now, even after that, if Carver High gets a new FT English position because of enrollment being higher than the district currently predicts, then I have first shot at returning there, even if they've hired someone else for the position. If I took it, then anybody they hired before that would be given my newly-vacant position. Whether or not I'd do that would depend on where I got placed during surplussing. If I ended up at, oh, Shitty Middle School #2, then I totally would. If, however, I ended up at Kennedy or McClatchy, hell no I won't go back to Carver.

I won't lie; I'm a little worried. But it's not like it would be if I worked at a typical business, where getting a Pink Slip is the end, period. So don't worry about me. We'll do fine, one way or another.