Lest you all think that my ravings about the Psycho (who, if you're new, is the principal of my school) are the product of my own fevered paranoia, here's what's happening lately at the sinking ship where I work: we are replacing maybe 20 staff members at the end of this school year. Out of a total of 120. This is a staggering amount; in a big year in the past we may have replaced 7 or 8. Now, out of this 20, three are going on child-rearing leave (that's two women having babies and one man staying home with his children for a year), and one, I believe, is moving up to an administrative position within our district. Two or three are relocating to work closer to where they live. And the rest?
They've gotten better offers in other school districts. Generally with raises, but the raises are not that astronomical; many of these people are giving up that holy grail of teacherhood, tenure, to get minimal raises in exchange. One does not give up tenure for a few thousand dollars a year. Why would a teacher give up tenure, you ask?
To escape from hell, of course. People would take pay cuts to get out of this place, for Pete's sake. The biggest chunk of deserters, though -- and don't get me wrong, they've got a right to leave and might as well, while they can -- are young, non-tenured, and the shining stars of the school, to hear the administration talk. One in particular is a tiny young thing, the same age as my wonderful niece (26), who doesn't have tenure yet but who's been held up as the bringer of all good things in education. They've sent her for special training and then had her run workshops for the staff, they dumped the yearbook on her (and it's the best yearbook I've ever seen, including the one I worked on), they ran this poor girl ragged. She deserves to get out, really. And the Psycho deserves to learn that when you pick a favorite and pump resources into her and still use her up and spit her out, she's going to get away as soon as she can.
I, of course, am not going anywhere. Once you hit a certain point, it can only be self-defeating. Tenure doesn't always mean that you lose interest and stop working, which is a worst-case scenario that everyone knows really happens sometimes. It does mean a certain complacency, however. But I don't feel complacent. I feel like when we're not looking, she's sharpening her pitchfork.
Should be interesting come fall. The next two years will also see the mass retirements of the baby boomer leading edge. Mmm boy
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I'm watching The Simpsons
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