The Unknown

I am fast approaching that time of year where anxiety strikes and the unknowns of my current position start to arise.  It is especially stressful this year because we have a new superintendent who has only been with us a few months and he is currently restructuring some things in our district. 

This year, as well as the past two years, I have been an instructional staff developer.  Simply put, I work with teachers to help them improve their practice.  I am not an evaluator by any means, I work in tandem with teachers to make sure students are successful in their classes.  I am a certified science teacher, but this year am taking on the responsibility of both math and science due to budget cuts.

Every year there has been question as to what will happen to coaches.  When we first got coaches in the district, each DA high school, 9 total, had at least 1 RTI coach, 1 math coach, 1 reading coach and 1 science coach.  (At the time a DA school was one that had a grade of D or F determined by our students FCAT score.  FCAT is our state standardized test.)  Some of the traditionally poor performing schools, SIG schools, got additional grant money to use on things like professional development, technology and other resources they so desperately needed.  Fast forward to the present, three years later, and we only have 4 SIG schools with coaches and my school with me as a math/science coach and a reading coach who is only here 1 week a month because she rotates between 3 other high schools. 

This year we are in need of a lot of support but can't get that support because our wonderful governor slashed the education budget by a billion dollars this year.  Our district has already cut 73 million from our budget the past three years and had to cut another 56 million this year!  Not to mention that new legislation passed last year and was signed into law new graduation requirements which include end of course (EOC) testing.  Also included with the new law is a new performance appraisal system for teachers.  All these things cost money and of course the state expects us to do more with less.  (I'm not even talking about salaries, benefits, etc. just resources we need for our students.)

Last year it was very stressful because we were losing 3 coaching positions which meant that 3 of us were temporarily out of a job.  It was decided that some internal restructuring had to happen and we all had to reapply for our jobs and interview, which meant compete with each other for the few coaching positions left.  At one point, it kind of got ugly, and some bonds were broken between teammates.  I am not going to go in to specifics, but I was not offered a coaching position when the school year ended. 

This year has been really challenging for me learning two new curriculums, a new school and new teachers.  I don't think that I will return as a coach, due to budget cuts, but I wouldn't be opposed to returning as a teacher.  Which begs the next question, am I ready to go back in to the classroom?  I have been out for 3 years and am rusty at best.  It's not the same, modeling in someones elses classroom, as having your own classroom and developing those relationships with your own students.  Sometimes I miss being in the classroom dearly, and then other days I don't miss it at all. 

Tomorrow is the deadline for voluntary transfers so I should know what's going to happen by then.  At least I know I'll have a job somewhere, I just don't know where.