Mondays Suck

Two of my favorite coworkers got laid off Friday. They found out on Thursday. I'm not sure how experienced teachers got laid off while brand new teachers with no experience still have jobs. Plus English is the only subject that each student has to take every year. And both teachers had full course loads. So how did they lose their jobs? What is the point of being unionized? Where are those students going to go??? I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a brand new schedule any moment now.

So we were all pretty down today. The two teachers in question were sent to a meeting downtown where they were told that they could sub and keep their benefits. It would be so insulting to go from teaching (which is insulting enough in CPS) to subbing.

We were told that this wouldn't happen any more -- that no longer would teachers get fired on the 20th day of school. The idea was that on the 20th day of school, the board would see how projected enrollment jived with real enrollment. But last spring, the union told us that layoffs would happen in the spring so that teachers would have all summer to get new jobs. I guess that was a lie. The board is blaming the budget crisis of the summer.

I know I said I'd quit bitching about school, but it's so frustrating and crappy.

But we did go to homecoming Friday night, and I made Emiko a t-shirt to show her school spirit. She was a huge hit. Our kids lost, but that's OK. We had dinner at Topnotch Beefburger on 95th and Western -- awesome burgers and the best milkshakes. Made it all worth it!

I know it seems crazy that I would go to homecoming when I think my job sucks right now. But I still have to play the game -- I certainly can't afford to get laid off. And I have several students who play on the football team and I want to support them. It's definitely more fun to see my kids at a football game -- they tend to be in much better spirits than in my class. So there.