Depressing day at work

OpheliaChem

No point to this post other than to complain. Yesterday, 6 teachers were pulled aside and given furlough letters. I'm lucky enough to not be one of them. But two of my close friends are. And one of them is 34 weeks pregnant. So sad. I can't imagine what she is going through right now. They don't know for sure who will be cut so its a waiting game. Boy, talk about loving your job! Imagine coming to work, pretending to love your job, totally putting on a show for the kids so they don't know what's going on, knowing that today might be the day you get the final word you are losing your job...

CNS1212

I had that at my last job...  it happened right before spring break to about 20 of us.  It was rough working for another 2 months.... the kids all knew about it though since it was all over the district. 

Never a good day....hope there can be some good news in the future for everyone!  Every spring is tough in education!

kelizr

That happened in our district last year... It's so scary! I've been there for 5 years but they haven't done a ton if hiring, so I'm still close to the bottom and every year it's a fear, especially this year knowing we have this little girl in the way! Fortunately, we were told no classroom cuts for the year! Yay! Hope your friends luck out! When they did it to some of our teachers last year, all but one came back full time and the last one was part time.

katiedonice

Hopefully all will work out for them. I'm a teacher too and it happened two years ago when I was expecting our first. The biggest fear was the loss of insurance right before I was due. Ugh, I sobbed far a couple of days (although not of front of the kiddos). Fortunately all worked for my group - another one was expecting at that time also...there really should be an exception to keep the preggos from having to go through that

Surfergirl013

 Sorry you are having to deal with this added stress:(

OpheliaChem

Thanks ladies. I went through this at my old school 5 years ago. I was furloughed, along with the newest hire in every single department. Then in July, most of us were called back and offered our old jobs but I already had been hired in my current district. I don't think they will furlough all of those teachers (15 total in the district) but its just so scary to not know. One of the teachers in question is the low person in our dept. and then I'm next in line. So I don't have a lot of wiggle room. This time of year definitely sucks for teachers!

LoisLane007

Kinda just had this happen to me. My uncle told me Friday that he's selling the family funeral home at the end of the year. It makes it so hard to go to work knowing that when I take maternity leave, it almost won't be worth going back! I tear up thinking about this everytime.

foxyroxy

Ophelia, my kid (ok, he's 24...) brother is a sub in the Pitt school system and he's told me how nervous some of the teachers are at some of the schools. I am so sorry to hear this is affecting your friends!

1026pumpkin

That totally sucks.  It makes me so mad that teachers have one of the most important jobs, and are way underpaid and constantly in threat of losing their position.  Sorry you had a cruddy day and a big thank you for doing important work.

coraggiosa

1026pumpkin:

That totally sucks.  It makes me so mad that teachers have one of the most important jobs, and are way underpaid and constantly in threat of losing their position.  Sorry you had a cruddy day and a big thank you for doing important work.

This. Also, can I ask what on earth happens to classes when teachers get furloughed? Do their classes get switched to another teacher? What exactly does it mean? I'm not really familiar with the system at all.  

OpheliaChem

foxyroxy:

Ophelia, my kid (ok, he's 24...) brother is a sub in the Pitt school system and he's told me how nervous some of the teachers are at some of the schools. I am so sorry to hear this is affecting your friends!

I did my student teaching at Pittsburgh Public! Yes, that district is always furloughing teachers. I have a friend who works at one of the middle schools but she is farther up the ladder and should be safe. Definitely a scary time.

OpheliaChem

coraggiosa:

1026pumpkin:

That totally sucks.  It makes me so mad that teachers have one of the most important jobs, and are way underpaid and constantly in threat of losing their position.  Sorry you had a cruddy day and a big thank you for doing important work.

This. Also, can I ask what on earth happens to classes when teachers get furloughed? Do their classes get switched to another teacher? What exactly does it mean? I'm not really familiar with the system at all.  

Furlough is sort of like laying off, except its not definite. For example, with me at my last school, I was furloughed so I knew I was laid off temporarily. Once they get a final schedule and know numbers of kids in each grade, they may have to add classes and bring back some teachers. That's normally what happens, but I have a feeling with 15 jobs on the line, that won't be the case this year in my district.

The science teacher in question teaches 8th and 9th grade. I'm certified to teach middle and high school science so I would take her 8th grade classes and drop my Earth and Space Science classes (which we don't need to teach since the state no longer has that on the standardized tests - yes, everything is test driven these days and it sucks). As for the other teachers, they have already eliminated a bunch of elective classes, which is a shame for the kids. So we cut classes, cut teachers, and then cram the remaining classes together so they are large. Last year I had 3 Earth and Space classes and this year only 2 - same number of kids, larger class sizes. There is absolutely not benefit to students, teachers, etc. The only perk is saving money for the district.