Hello Mini,
I know that empathy and sympathy from me will not help your
situation, but I did want you to know you are not alone. I
had something very similar happen to me.
I had received nothing but good evaluations for 15 years, and
then ran afoul of a vindictive principal (who had been
promoted from assistant principal (after the old one
retired), and she -- for whatever reason -- decided I did not
fit into her notion of how to teach and handle my duties
(even though I was doing nothing different from how I had
always done it. I am sure I made mistakes, we all do. But
she placed me on a TINA for no reason (based on past
performance)and once I started receiving write-ups for the
most trivial of reasons, I could see the writing on the wall.
She made demands that were impossible to fulfill. Time in a
day simply did not permit it. No matter what approach I took,
no matter what I did to try to accommodate, it was never good
enough. It got to where I got physically ill just thinking
about facing one more day with this tyrant; and believe me, I
am no wimp.
Some of my fellow teachers who had worked with her before (I
had been recently re-assigned to this school because of
budget cuts that resulted in some programs being cancelled,
including my former job which I had held for 10 years at
another school). Anyway, sympathetic fellow teachers who had
long experience with her as an assistant principal knew what
was happening, and told me that she was that way. In fact, I
ran across a few later on and was told even her new assistant
principal had resigned because he could not endure her
dictatorial manner. As did a few other teachers who had had
it (but they were eligible to retire).
I stuck it out, not the least of reasons being I was not yet
eligible to retire, and at my age (which was 53 at the time),
I was too old to start a new career.
My day was filled with constant harassment, harping, nit-
picking, and being told I wasn't working "hard enough." Hell,
I was working 16 hour days (both on duty and at home), and
managing perhaps 5 hours sleep a night because of worry and
stress. My friends even told me that over the last year it
looked as if I had aged 10 years (and it was probably true!).
Anyway, there came the day, that I just decided it was not
worth my physical and mental health to keep this up. So
yeah, I resigned, knowing that non-renewal was pretty much a
foregone conclusion, anyway.
So there you have it. Fifteen years as a teacher with no
blemishes, up in smoke because of one petty principal who
loved to lord her power if she didn't like you.
Today, I barely make ends meet by substituting, and only
because my wife works.
So yes, Mini, it can happen to anyone, and there isn't a dam
thing one can do about it...
On 7/10/14, mini wrote:
> I will be naming people and places . They hurt me from
having
> a job and making a living. I meant no ill will to anyone.
> Yet, I was a target on a 4 month contract???
> Why hurt my career? What did I do to you? Because for 13
years
> I had great evaluations. I took a 4 month short contract
job.
> And I have been destroyed. I will name the district, school
> and person that has done this to me. Just to warn other
people
> what can happen to you. Because it is so unfair my career
> should end because of some one's petty hatred.
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