Frustrated!!!
 

I am SOOOO frustrated right now. I found out on Friday that my postion as a gifted instructor/literature is non-renewable. Basically, I don't have the gifted certification at the Master's Level, and the rules for NCLB in my state says that all positions must have certified instructors in place by January 2006. So.....that was how my day ended Friday. I did ask my principal if I could apply for the English position open at the school and he said yes. Because it's a different application and position, I have to file a new application and all my paperwork again, per board regulations.

Thank goodness I at least have secondary certification in English and History...hopefully this English position will work out, but I'm also starting applications for other systems as well.

I hate this process.

Please pray....:(

I'm sorry to hear that :( Did you just find out that this would happen, or did you know about the state rule earlier?

Well, yes and no. The county was going to come back and let us know what highly qualified meant for gifted education according to the state. I knew that I would have to get certified and had been applied and been accepted into one of the only two colleges that had that particular program and start it this summer.

Ironically, I recieved my full acceptance letter from USA the same day that I found out.

I think you should approach your principal and say that you are interested in retaining your position by showing him that you are willing to go back to school for that Master's, I know of some teachers who were not qualified at the time but actively showing progression toward that Master'sdegree- what about temporary certification in the meantime. Approach him from those two aspects and you might get results, unless he has the postion already in mine for someone else!:eek:

A similar and equally frustrating situation: I don't know if this is going on everywhere, but it's my understanding that in Texas special education teachers will now be required to be certified in ALL content areas that they teach. Instead of having a general Special Ed certification and able to teach resource math, english, science, social studies, etc, they will have to have one of each. That NCLB crap is just that, a load of Crap.

You could always move to South Carolina... They'll let ANYONE teach. (Seriously... It's how we got to be number 50 in education)

I thought that was us or Mississippi...

Yea I have to agree with CarolinaDG. Granted, I did have SOME good teachers when I was in the public school system but for the most part, the teachers stunk.

My parents moved to York County when I graduated high school which left my brother to enter the Clover school system in the 7th grade. He is a decent student but he still writes essays and papers on the 6th grade level . . . the grade he finished in the Wren school system. Everyone wants to make a big deal out of the York County school system and how great it is. WRONG! The only reason people make such a big deal out of that school system is because it is a rich (money wise) county. It has a nuclear station that brings in a boatload of tax money, Springs Corporation (the textile company), one of the Duke Power headquarters, and the fact the county is right on the border of Charlotte, NC (which isn't a big deal either). Money doesn't always equal a wonderful school system . . . granted money doesn't necessarily hurt, it just brings in more moron teachers to the school system.

They knew I would be pursuing gifted. Unfortunately, what has happened, is that I am in a middle school position, and I got bumped for someone who had to be moved up. See, this other woman was teaching 6th grade gifted and they had to move her up to 8th grade b/c they found out she was not elementary certified, only 7-12 certified in English/literature. So...they had to move her up because of that and because she has tenure. Ironically, this is my mentor at the school, and she's just sick about it. They had wanted me to teach the 6th grade position until they realized that I was in the same dilemma--no "reading/elementary" degree, which is 6th grade for our state. When they bumped her up, that left her position open, and they hired someone who had gifted AND elementary certification. When my mentor and I were talking today, I told her my frustration about the situation, she looked at me and said "Imagine how I feel....I had to tell them that I thought you were a much better instructor and talented in working with the kids, only to be told "Certified is certified." We talked about how I should fill out the applications for other positions, and how I would answer the renewal question, and she said to explain that I was bumped by a tenured teacher who had to move up. We all know it's not bad things---my teacher evaluations this year, monitored by my principal according to a state instrument, were really good--3s and 4s with 4 being the highest.

Legally, they can't give a reason on why a contract is not being renewed, just that it's not being renewed. Luckily, I have much support from administration and my mentors.

Yeesh...:rolleyes:

Never in my daywould I think having just an elementary education degree would make one almost obselete or non-marketable, nowdays you have to have an elementary degree and or a reading or a special education degree to stay employed in today's economy, what's next certification in school psychology to become a teacher!:rolleyes:

Watch out! That's the high school I went to.

I'm curious, though, for such a bad school, how come we have students going to Harvard? I think Clover has great schools. The story I heard about the money in high school was that Duke Power gives Clover money, and that the legislators were going to try to do away with that because it's not fair to the poor schools in the state.

I thought it was the Fort Mill school system that was so great - not necessarily the York County school system.

yea that one girl that's going to Harvard that has to have her mom move up there when she goes? yea I remember now! :p :rolleyes: I had a couple of people that graduated with me that went to Georgetown.

I know that girl and there's a major story behind how and why she got into Harvard (and it's not because she's brilliant) but I am not trying to start anything with anyone who went to Clover. Trust me. That girl will have a majorly hard time staying at Harvard even with her mom moving up there with her (and I'm serious about that one). From what I know about any scholarships, especially ones from Harvard, a student practically will have to maintain a 4.0 or close to it. I honestly do not believe she'll make it. I hope she does but this girl is not the same caliber of "smartness" and "braininess" and socially independent as those at Harvard. I hope she does well but she'll only do well only because her dependence on her weirdo mom.

I don't think we're talking about the same person. There are two this year. And I think there was one last year, but I'm not sure whether he ever went or not.

I hate to tell you, but unless it's a magnet school, you're not going to get much better than Clover in South Carolina. And I speak from experience, since I've moved around enough to have been a part of 5 different school districts. Sorry, don't mean to argue with you, but we will all admit that some of our "claim to fame" is being the richest in the state, but money also buys you teachers with doctorates and masters. All right, I think we need to go back to the original thread...

All scholarships and grants given by Harvard (and the rest of the Ivies) are need-based only; the school, as a condition of its membership in the Ivy Group, cannot give any scholarships based on academic merit or athletic prowess. Also, there is no required grade point average to maintain university financial aid.

Also, kids from terrible high schools in terrible districts get admitted to excellent colleges all the time. Some make it, others don't--which is, amazingly, exactly what holds true for kids from excellent high schools in the nation's best school districts.