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Unfortunately, it is a mistake to think you can "always get a
job" in this absolutely cesspool of an economy. I don't care
how good you may be or think you are. If a principal forces you
out, it is basically the end of your career, unless you falsify
a job application. It isn't like you can just dust yourself off
and resume a career.

In no other occupation is systemwide blackballing done. When I
say "systemwide," I mean all 14,000 public school districts in
the United States. Disbarred lawyers often can practice again.
A terminated, forced out, or non-renewed teacher finds it almost
impossible to resume a career.

On 7/17/14, A great teacher is irreplaceable wrote:
> Although it is true that certainly someone can learn by
> checking a book out of the library, the most efficient system
> that we have is a teacher/student. Take one child, left to
> wander around with access to a library on the corner and the
> hope that he will self-educate, and another child with a
> dynamic teacher and we know the outcome. I can't be replaced.
> A school can get another hot body to teach in my classroom,
> but they won't get the numbers I get. You said yourself in
> one of your other rants about data and numbers and how they
> seal the deal. My admins know they could replace me with an
> unknown who is scratching her head trying to figure out how to
> get the kids to be quiet and listen. They can hire some
> newbie to stand up and print lessons off of Pinterest, like
> the one with the really, really cute color coordinated
> classroom and students sleeping and texting. They can get
> someone that gets umpteen parent complaints...or they can keep
> me. I know what I am worth. I once got a job in the middle of
> the year, and once in a district that only had ten openings. I
> can get another job. I will never be reduced to your factory-
> worker, pathetic, groveling stance. There are ALWAYS jobs
> available for a dynamic teacher who knows how to conduct
> direct instruction and masterfully drives a classroom hitting
> targets with hard to teach kids. That's me. Stop scaring
> teachers into thinking that if they are treated like dirt,
> their boss owns them. It isn't true.
>
>
>
> On 7/16/14, PsyGuy wrote:
>> No your students have a great capacity for learning, they
>> can learn from many sources and don't need you to
>> facilitate their learning. A well motivated student with
>> access to a library can learn far more than you could
>> teach them.
>>
>> No if you leave you just get replaced. I know you'd like
>> to think your that important but your not. Your expertise
>> is valuable, though I don't know if its a lot if value or
>> not.
>>
>> No you can't get a job anywhere, there aren't vacancies
>> everywhere.
>>
>> On 7/16/14, retort wrote:
>>> The children can't learn without ME. But they can learn
>>> without
>> a
>>> principal. A teacher has a great deal of power. Teachers
>>> just don't understand their power. Most try to play the
>>> game, and
>> they
>>> think if they are "good" they will come out on top. This
>>> is how PsyGuy would have you play. Don't listen--it
>>> doesn't work. If I walk out in the middle of the year, my
>>> kids are up a creek
>> without
>>> a paddle, scores tank, and the school looks bad. I don't
>>> buy the factory worker thing. I bring my expertise to the
>>> table and that's worth a lot. Sorry, PsyGuy, you can tuck
>>> your tail, but I can get a job teaching anywhere. Life is
>>> a two way street.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 7/16/14, PsyGuy wrote:
>>>> No schools are very much a business. No your not a
>> subcontractor,
>>>> you get a W-2 at the end of the year not a 1099, and
>>>> "you" are
>>> not
>>>> a separately incorporated entity contracting your
>>>> services to
>> the
>>>> district, as a temp service might. You are as much hired
>>>> on a contract by the organization (the district) and are
>>>> directly employed by them. I know youd like to think of
>>>> yourself as an independent contractor, because then the
>>>> natural flow of the argument would easily support the
>>>> idea that the school/district doesnt direct your work,
>>>> but your not an independent or sub contractor, your a
>>>> direct employee, and your employer very
>> much
>>>> has the power to direct and dictate your work. You dont
>>>> have
>> to
>>>> work on a factory line to be an employee (as opposed to
>>>> sub contractor) and you cant legally be required to do
>>>> anything
>>> illegal,
>>>> this is true in any job or position or career, you do
>>>> have to
>>> make
>>>> sure you can prove your case and that you were asked to
>>>> do something illegal or criminal. Changing a grade or
>>>> being
>> asked to
>>>> change a grade is not illegal, a teachers grade is
>>>> final, unless
>>> it
>>>> meets certain criteria, and most principals simply say
>>>> that
>>> criteria
>>>> is met.
>>>>
>>>> You are as much a free agent as your free to accept or
>> decline
>>> the
>>>> districts offer of employment, but accepting it very
>>>> much
>> makes
>>>> you a direct hire employee.
>>>>
>>>> On 7/16/14, re: psy Guy's comment wrote:
>>>>> PsyGuy favors comparing education to business, which is
>>>>> a fallacy of argument. Schools aren't a business. It is
>>>>> true that we have a boss, called a principal, and
>>>>> generally speaking, if your boss tells you to do
>>>>> something you do it or you risk insubordination which
>>>>> can get you fired--that part holds true. We are more
>>>>> like an architect, you don't hire one and then try to
>>>>> have an incompetent tell him how to design a house. The
>>>>> part that does not hold water is that teachers (when
>>>>> compared to the other world) are more like
>>>>> subcontractors. We are put on a contract to deliver a
>>>>> service, and when a principal asks a teacher to do
>> something
>>>>> as unethical as changing a grade, the case can be made
>> that
>>>>> the teacher's reputation and career could be affected
>>>>> by
>> going
>>>>> along with something depending on the circumstances.
>> There
>>>>> was, in fact, a case where a principal directed a clan
>>>>> of teachers to cheat on state testing by changing
>>>>> answers. The teachers went along with it, and ended up
>>>>> facing criminal charges. We don't work on a factory
>>>>> line, as PsyGuy would describe. We are essentially free
>>>>> agents that contract with the schools. For me, I
>>>>> maintain high ethics at all times. We have to defend
>>>>> our teaching to the community at large and in the end
>>>>> my job is on the line if my scores aren't strong. Most
>>>>> of the principals I have worked with don't know how to
>>>>> lead in the area of instructional design and many don't
>>>>> seem to know much about classroom management either.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On 7/16/14, PsyGuy wrote:
>>>>>> No business owners are the only ones unsupervised.
>>>>>> Principals are very much supervised by both the board
>>>>>> and the sup.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Sure teachers careers can be ruined from evil
>>>>>> principals, but thats no more or less true than in any
>>>>>> profession or business. You can have an evil VP that
>>>>>> ruins your banking career just as easily.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Well if your supervisor tells you to change the grade,
>>>>>> Id change the grade. Why anyone would think you could
>>>>>> tell your supervisor no, and keep your job baffles me.
>>>>>> Theres a reason its called a supervisor subordinate
>>>>>> relationship. If im going to lose my job its going to
>>>>>> be over money or seex, not one students grade.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On 7/16/14, anon wrote:
>>>>>>> Thank you for a great post. It is the truth. PsyGuy
>>>>>>> should just shut up on threads having to do with the
>>>>>>> abuse of teachers
>>>>>> because
>>>>>>> it is clear he knows nothing of what he is talking
>>>>>>> about.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Principals are the worst supervisors in the economy
>>>>>>> for the simple reason they aren't supervised. It's
>>>>>>> rare these days to find one who is any good at all.
>>>>>>> Teachers can and do get their lives destroyed just on
>>>>>>> a principal's whim, and anybody who denies this
>>>>>>> reality is either a liar or an idiot.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> All it takes to get a career ruined is to refuse to
>>>>>>> change a grade when a principal orders it because of
>>>>>>> a parent's complaint. All it takes is to get sick and
>>>>>>> use FMLA to have a career ruined. It's all about
>>>>>>> covering for a principal's or other administrator's
>>>>>>> worthless ass no matter what the consequences to
>>>>>>> others.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 7/16/14, Empathy and Sympathy wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> PsyGuy? Are you a naturally self-superior, didactic,
>>>>>>>> person, or do you have to work at it? Bottom line
>>>>>>>> is, are you for real? Or just putting everyone on.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> What in the hell makes you think you know a single
>>>>>>>> thing about what other people are experiencing and
>>>>>>>> the motivations behind how certain administrators
>>>>>>>> operate and why they do as they do.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Sure, you are right in that the job of a principal
>>>>>>>> is to manage the school and the teachers. And that
>>>>>>>> it is the job of the teacher to adapt to a new style
>>>>>>>> of
>> management
>>>>>>>> if required.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> But if you think you can make a silly blanket
>>>>>>>> statement that all administrators are propelled by
>>>>>>>> nothing more than a desire to better their school
>>>>>>>> with nothing personal involved when it comes to
>>>>>>>> teachers, then you must live on Planet Altair-4.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Whether it fits your fanciful vision or not, there
>>>>>>>> are some principals out there who are mean, stupid,
>>>>>>>> vindictive, tyrannical, and have no conscience at
>>>>>>>> all when it comes to destroying teaching careers.
>>>>>>>> And if they have it in for you, then no amount of
>>>>>>>> attempted adaptation on the part of the teacher is
>>>>>>>> going to change it.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> One bit of proof is that more and more teachers are
>>>>>>>> finally relating it, and many others are leaving in
>>>>>>>> droves (as another poster said), because their
>>>>>>>> physical and mental health, and even sense of
>>>>>>>> personal dignity, cannot forever withstand the
>>>>>>>> assaults .
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> When was the last time *you* (if you ever were at
>>>>>>>> all) in a classroom? What are *your* credentials to
>>>>>>>> presume to lecture REAL teachers who know first hand
>>>>>>>> of what they speak of, as to what they need to know?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Your post is about the most insensitively, boorish,
>>>>>>>> that I have read it a long time. I don't mean with
>>>>>>>> me...I am tough enough to handle it, but with Mini.
>>>>>>>> Again, when was the last time you ever bent over a
>>>>>>>> desk to help a student or contribute to the teaching
>>>>>>>> realm. Far as that goes, when was the last time you
>>>>>>>> ever bent over for
>> work
>>>>>>>> at all, unless it was to kiss some C-Scope
>>>>>>>> executives patootie (yeah, I have read you before on
>>>>>>>> this one).
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Ordinarily, I wouldn't make comments like this to
>>>>>>>> anyone. But your post was beyond the pale and shows
>> an
>>>>>>>> appalling ignorance of the realities of teaching
>>>>>>>> today, and what more and more educators are forced
>>>>>>>> to
>> endure.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 7/15/14, PsyGuy wrote:
>>>>>>>>> Well they arent dictators, they are your
>>>>>>>>> supervisor, and
>>>>>>>> their job
>>>>>>>>> is to manage you and the school. Thats means that
>>>>>>>>> things dont always go your way, and maybe your no
>>>>>>>>> longer a good fit for the school and its
>>>>>>>>> leadership. Its your job to be flexible
>>>>>>>> and
>>>>>>>>> adapt to your schools leadership and culture, not
>>>>>>>>> the other
>>>>>>>> way
>>>>>>>>> around. Being a good fit for 15 years doesnt mean
>>>>>>>>> you can
>>>>>>>> just
>>>>>>>>> keep repeating that behavior indefinitely.
>>>>>>>>> Professional good professional adapt to change.
>>>>>>>>> Including changes
>> in
>>>>>>>>> management. I really dont know why people can think
>> not
>>>>>>>>> getting along with your boss is going to somehow be
>>>>>>>>> okay.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On 7/15/14, mini wrote:
>>>>>>>>>> Thank you so much everyone for your support. I
>>>>>>>>>> will
>> be
>>>>>>>>>> substitute teaching. Like some of you are. Because
>> we
>>>>>>>>>> need to make a living. I can never get past this
>>>>>>>>>> because employers look at your last job, even if
>>>>>>>>>> you worked for them before with a great record. I
>>>>>>>>>> am leaving TX because I can't afford to live here
>>>>>>>>>> anymore. I will have to go and live with family.
>>>>>>>>>> That is why I named the good guys and bad guys in
>>>>>>>>>> my situation. For Psyguy yes this is a job, but in
>>>>>>>>>> the private sector I at least would have 6 months
>>>>>>>>>> to prove myself. I didn't get that in a 4 month
>>>>>>>>>> contract. So, I can only assume it was a hack job.
>>>>>>>>>> Why,I don't know? Like I said before my direct
>>>>>>>>>> supervisor and co- workers were very kind, they
>>>>>>>>>> showed me the ropes,
>> they
>>>>>>>>>> answered my questions. I got along with them.
>>>>>>>>>> Thank you everyone. I know I have lost. I just had
>>>>>>>>>> to say something to someone. Thank you! Thank you!

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