Week 5/28 – 5/31
I try not to complain much; I usually just go with the flow. But sometimes, when you take the “go with the flow” attitude, you sometimes can be taken advantage of or even disregarded. When I was first hired at my school, it was as an Educational Specialist with my teaching credentials: I had my certificate of eligibility to teach in the state of New Jersey. I was given a teaching assignment but the school never went out of their way to ensure that by the completion of that academic year I would have my standard certificate. Now, it wasn’t their responsibility to do so, technically. However, I was unaware of the process to become an official certified teacher in New Jersey; common courtesy should have dictated that regardless of my career intentions, someone would have at the very least informed me about the process to obtain my standard certificate.
Neither human resources nor the administration at the time, or any teacher colleagues for that matter, inquired about my teaching status, nor did they give me any instruction or guidance regarding the next steps in my career. Long story short, because I did not complete the alternative route program as a new teacher, the NJDOE will not recognize that year of teaching as an official year of teaching – according to the state of New Jersey, the end of this year will be recognized as the end of my second year and not the end of my third. The former school leader had reached out to me and said she would be willing to attest to my year of teaching – which came after the fact; nothing more than empty promises and possible guilt on her end. This lack of care for my career, and my ignorance, has come back to haunt me in ways that do more nagging than actual harm.
Moment of the Week
I was asked by our school founder and board chairwoman to join a committee that would be responsible for drafting the new rules for achieving teacher tenure at our school. With the new tenure law, schools can create their own tenure guidelines or they would be subject to the guidelines of the state. We had the first meeting this week. I learned some of the specifics of the changed teacher tenure laws in New Jersey; one such change is that if a teacher does not have tenure by June 30, 2013, they would not be eligible for tenure until the completion of their fifth year of teaching – the old law only required 3 years of teaching; this is not up for review. Had my school district given me the opportunity to obtain my standard certificate, I’d have tenure at the end of this school year. Because of the course of events when I was hired, I now have to wait for another 3 years before I can receive tenure at my school. While it is not the end of the world to be without tenure, I’ve worked damn hard for the last 3 years and I know that I should have tenure as a result of my hard work. Unfortunately, I have to wait. Also, because the state recognizes only 2 of my years teaching and not 3, I cannot obtain my supervisor’s license if I wanted to become an administrator – insult to injury.
As I sat in that meeting and realized that I could not be grandfathered into the old guidelines, I got very angry. I was angry at myself for not doing my due diligence and finding out what I needed to know in order to not be in this position. I was also angry at my district for what I believe was not caring about me or my career enough to tell me what I needed to do to not be in this predicament. I didn’t even want to be in the meeting anymore, yet I calmed myself down and just continued with the meeting. I realized that while there was nothing that I could do to change my circumstances, I also realized that there was nothing anyone could do to remove me from my placement – for me, teaching is a calling and whatever “skills” that I have were not acquired from years of study or from anyone’s school; they were God given, thus I was reminded my place is assured. That may sound a bit cocky, but rest assured that I am not being cocky. I am just calling it like it is.
Lesson of the Week
This whole experience reminded me that as a professional, I have to take the course of my career into my own hands. When I first got hired at my school, I was simply trying not to make waves; I wanted to fit in and do my job. When you are young, you tend to think that way. When you are a more seasoned professional, you are less likely to let people dictate the course of your career. Now, I am in the driver’s seat; I have control of my career and no one can dictate to me the path that I am going to take. Of course, life and work circumstances may have to be accounted for when making key career decisions, but it is I who is making those key decisions and not anyone else.
We’ve also got to realize is that whatever decisions we make, we have to accept and live with them, which is why it is so important to have the reins of the decision making with respect to your career. If you have a question about something, ask it. If you think that someone or a group of folks are leading you down the wrong professional path, or a path you don’t want to take, stop them and express where you see yourself and how you see things playing themselves out. If not, you’ll be the one getting played. I learned my lesson; make sure you learn this one.
To buy Randy’s book that provides strategies to help with the educating of Black and Hispanic/Latino students in America’s inner-cities and urban areas, “The Cooper Street Offense” please click here https://www.createspace.com/4208187
To buy Randy’s book that provides details how our distracted and desensitized consciousness is destroying our communities and failing our children, “The Double D’s of Destruction” please click here https://www.createspace.com/4046756
