Good News

Under California Education Code, if a district is going to "pink slip" a teacher, the district must notify that teacher by March 15th (presumably to give that teacher adequate time to prepare to find a new job).  Many districts, my own included, aren't sure yet what staffing levels will be required next year and thus notify newbie teachers in March "just in case".  A couple weeks ago, all our 1st- and 2nd-year teachers received such a notification.

That was a fairly devastating day for one of our rookie teachers, who spent most of the day either crying or trying not to cry.  Of course, we veterans could tell her it's preliminary, that we're not going to be getting rid of any math teachers, that our district plans poorly and this is just what they do, etc. etc. etc., but as someone who's been in that position, I can tell you that such wisdom doesn't amount to a hill of beans because it's not you who's getting the layoff notice.

So here we are, two weeks later, and she came rushing into my room this afternoon, jumping up and down--"Guess who got their layoff notice rescinded?!" she exclaimed.

As someone who got several such notices in my first years of teaching, and who was even laid off for one summer, I am very happy for her that she doesn't have to go through what I went through--at least this year, she doesn't.