WoooHooo!

I'm going to pause my story to tell all my millions of readers that...

I WILL HAVE A JOB FOR NEXT YEAR!

In case you don't remember, because of budget cuts, TPS had to lay off 200ish teachers last school year. They basically laid off all first-year teachers, that included me. We all received letters in April and had to sign something saying we understood the process and blah, blah. blah. It was very stressful!

Especially since I was told in the middle of a faculty meeting. That was the longest meeting ever! I was barely able to hold it together on the way back to my room where I immediately burst into tears in my reading loft.

But I'm not bitter.

Ok, I am. I just think that was very unprofessional of my principal.

I digress...

Thankfully, I was called by my current school 2 days into the summer and the principal offered me a pre-k position for the following year! Such a blessing! Unfortunately, I had to wait until August to sign my contract, which meant nothing was final until my signature was on that paper. Which in turn meant that I was stressed out until August. But everything worked out fine and I have enjoyed my year here.

BUT because our state legislature continues to make choices that aren't in the best interest of education, we are looking at another year of financial crisis. So, needless to say, I was worried that I would have to deal with another layoff this year.

And then I got an e-mail from our union this morning talking about the different decisions that they have bargained for recently. One of those decisions was:

"We agreed. Unless there are performance issues, there will be no letters sent to teachers notifying them that they do not have jobs next year. This is a huge victory for all teachers. In a year when stimulus funds are to end, the district has agreed to continue the employment of all teachers, including first years and new hires, into the next school year."

WHICH MEANS I HAVE A JOB FOR NEXT YEAR! I may have to move schools, depending on the decisions made from the Project School House, but I WILL HAVE A JOB!

What a load off my shoulders. I cried when I saw the e-mail and immediately called Jake. We hadn't really discussed much of any of this but it has been in the back of our minds for awhile now.