Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Last hired, first fired, forever.

I wish someone would write a story about teachers like my sister-in-law. Since getting her master’s about six years ago, she has had to teach a new grade level every year and switched schools nearly as often. No matter that she has ELL certification, no matter that she is great at her job—last hired, first fired, rinse and repeat, every single year. Even before budget cuts spread throughout the country, northeastern Illinois schools, whose taxpayers fought every levy, had pared back, then back some more. These days they do an awful lot of firing.

The districts are so small that getting laid off from one elementary school means finding a job in another district. Which means that you can be a first-year teacher every year, even if you have been teaching for six years. Why would anyone of quality want to jump into that boiling soup?

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