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...
