Friday, April 10, 2009

TEACHING JOB

Economic Crisis - those two words scare a lot of people these days. I know people all over have been feeling the crunch for some time. Teachers, on the other hand, are only just now feeling the pinch. Since our funds come from a year ahead, we are just now feeling the pinch of crunch time.

Our district has been straight forward with us since day one. They originially gave us a worst case scenerio -
* going to half day kindergarten
* losing teachers
* losing counselors/ health aides
* losing computer classes
* pay portion for health insurance
* etc.

Each update from the state alleviates some of our district's pressure. A board meeting is scheduled for Monday evening since they have to approve of teacher contracts before they are handed out - they will be delivered April 15th since we have 30 days to sign and return.

They have decided that all day kindergarten will be funded whether the state funds it or not. They have also decided that computer classes will not be offered next year - teachers can sign out use of the computer lab and still take their class in. They have also decided against having teachers pay a portion of their health insurance - some were causing a stink about this since admin people receive family insurance at no cost.

I do know of several teachers who will not be receiving contracts next year - either first, second, or third year teacher - the district says they chose them based on performance but I'm not too sure about that. I know of three first year teachers keeping their job and two third year losing theirs.

I just keep thinking and praying that things start to turn around soon. God help us all!

2 comments:

teacherwoman said...

so scary. You just reminded me that it is about that time of year that we will be getting our contracts for next year. However, we don't have to have ours signed until later since this year is our year to fight for pay raises... yay! But, I am just fortunate, and have been throughout this entire economic crisis, to have a job... and one that I truly love! You don't see that everyday anymore.

Unknown said...

Our district is currently in contract talks right now. i have no idea how they're going, but am hopeful the results aren't too bad. I know we have a good bargaining committee. Thankfully, I work for an ISD (the regional service center that helps to support all the smaller districts), so we are in a better position than some of the smaller districts, but nothing is a sure thing these days...

good luck in your district!