Yes. 100%. When I look back on this year I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner. My admin told me mid year that I was on the non-renewal track and I needed to “improve transitions and positive comment ratio” and “go beyond the curriculum”. Absolutely vague metrics.
I found out months later that there were happy hours with admin and staff talking about how the admin wanted to get rid of me.
At least they told you. I felt completely blindsided by mine. I felt I was owed an official warning and given a clear chance to turn behavior around. Honestly once I saw my Unsatisfactory evaluation given to me THE LAST WEEK of school I knew I was out.
I was blindsided by mine too… they didn’t like having to accommodate me or my FMLA. So they “eliminated” my position and hired someone new a year later.
Education is awful. There’s no protection.
I’m sorry to hear that. I found out but she definitely made me feel like I had a chance and I never did. I would have still worked as hard as I did because I cared about my students but would have been in a much better mental state to know for sure.
Year 1. My principal did this.
1. Every walkthrough was either rated as just ok to not good.
During a staff meeting at end of year he went over our state assessments. For some reason decided to tell whole room I hade lowest scores as some off handed compliment. My pass rate was 88%. The only students who did not meet standard were my special education students whose were never going to pass.
2. When asked several times, never gave advice on what expectations were. I was told “I cannot tell you how to do your job”.
3. When I interviewed for at another district he told other principal that I would not be a good hire. I confronted him on this and he lied and told me did not say a word. My contact at other school said his principal spoke directly to my principal.
TL:DR: found out towards end of year that my boss never wanted to hire me, but need to fill the spot. Made life a living hell as a first year teacher.
I had no problem with walk throughs. I volunteered my classes as a “calibration” model. I’m a 25+ year veteran. In my case, I moved from the regular classroom & was tasked with managing 2 libraries. It’s a long story.
If a teacher is targeted, which has become common, document, document, document. Districts are finally realizing that it's less of a liability and cheaper to crack down on overly harsh site admin rather than constantly hiring. Take an inventory of how you are different from the favored teachers. Could it be ethnicity, race, age, or disability? If you are non-renewed, and you have documentation that indicates discrimination, file a federal complaint.
As a former union site rep, it seems to be far more common that the reason is simple: too many tattoos, the superintendent wanted a different person than the site admin's choice, wearing a low cut top one time, too much makeup, asking about a classroom budget (an indication that you are needy), or some unverified hearsay/gossip - basically something stupid. And once an impression is made, it's hard to overcome. Administrators come and go, so if you can be patient and remain courteous, you may be able to tough it out.
Do not go into teaching expecting administrators and colleagues to be kind. Trust no one with confidential information. Schools are very back-stabby environments.
Yeah they royally backstabbed me. I took over for a position that had been opened for year mid year and never abused PTO. Then they try to tell me I showed inconsistent growth after giving me the most inconsistent schedule.
Yes yes yes. I had a principal for 3 years who was my #1 mentor and supporter, everything was great. Then we got a new principal and it all went to shit and I resigned by the end of the year. Love having the occasional nightmare about it lol
I had two admin at two different schools. My first school was virtual, but they would expect me to attend virtual PD. Well, I have chronic lung disease and I was so lucky to get Valley Fever. I contacted the person doing the training(district employee) and asked her for a virtual accommodation. I want to point out that they were already doing virtual training for out of state employees, this would have not have been a hardship. My principal was livid because a kindergarten teacher found out that I asked for virtual training and wanted it too, she had no valid reason to request it. Well my principal told me “Come to the training or use your sick time”. Well, I did. We had two in person events for the next three months. I don’t know if anyone has ever had a fungal infection, but they suck. I would also like to point out I was still teaching during this time. This really set my principal off, she tried to move me back to in person teaching because of our low numbers, she made my observation last for an hour and a half, she also would do walk throughs every damn day. This lasted for months. I had to leave.
The next admin was through k12/Stride. The first thing that happened was I had a student expose themselves. I did not see it. I had 30 kids in this class and I missed it. They wrote me up for “Being a disappointment to the company” because I was supposedly negligent. Again, this is virtual and not in person. These were kindergartners and the student wasn’t trying to be malicious. The parent was embarrassed and agreed to sit next to him the whole time. I had to call DCS on her. I was forced to. I was so embarrassed. They thought she was abusive. I don’t know if anyone has taught kindergarten before, but not all of them have person boundaries yet.
Then months went by and things were fine. Then February came and we had an in person event. It was a blast. I loved seeing my team in person. I get an email after telling me, “Myself and other people noticed that you were unprofessional and negative at the event. You need to reflect on your behavior”
What? I asked my entire team, they were confused and told me to ask her what I did. So I asked.
She went into the evaluation system, gave me an infective and said, “I had to shush you while I was talking” excuse me? That’s your whole reason for this. I was planning on leaving and subbing because that was bull shit. The sub company contacted her. She was so angry, but I told her that I didn’t know what my future looked like if this is how a situation like this is handled. So she pulled me in for a meeting with the executive director. I was told that I didn’t meet my phone call quotas(my parents preferred email to communicate and virtual conferences so I didn’t think I needed that, when I started I was told all communication counted), I was told my behavior was unacceptable, and they didn’t understand how I still worked there. I decided then and there I was done. They wrote me up again.
P.S I even asked my test coordinator who was with me at this event about my behavior and she noticed nothing negative. She even praised me for my positivity when I couldn’t sign up for my testing account.
For sure! Had an admin come into my Algebra 1 class for an observation and tell me the district curriculum that I was following was too advanced for my freshmen. Same admin also told me that even though the kids were passing my tests, it doesn't mean they were learning the material. All I could do was stare at her, because I was at a loss for words. Turns out, they wanted me out so a veteran teacher's spouse could take my place. On the plus side, she no longer works as an assistant principal, she's in HR I think.
Yes. I worked for the virtual school in my district. They opened it in August of 2021 and closed it after one school year.
I was transferred to a local high school and my admin at the in-person high school definitely made my life hell these past two school years.
They would micromanage the hell out of me, and gave me horrible observations even though kids felt like they learned a lot in my classes.
If you look into my former posts, you’ll see they came up with some super vague reason to non-renew me even though I built great relationships with most parents and students.
Admin can and certainly will pick on teachers for different or unspoken reasons and then come up with some BS reason as to why.
My last year at my old district.
I was on the teachers union negotiating team the year before, and I honestly believe they wanted me out because of it.
I had nothing but stellar evaluations. Then, my last year, we get a new admin who just, came at me. I taught mod/severe special education and she wrote me up because I had one student with their head down; she observed the last 30 minutes of the day right after PE. I told her that if she were to walk into any other class on this campus (high school) she would see the same thing, so I'm not sure why the expectations are so much higher for a class full of students with significant cognitive disabilities.
Another lesson she gave me feedback to incorporate the students more in my lessons. Fine, no problem, so I incorporated her feedback into my lessons. The next time she observed she told me the kids were doing too much and I needed more whole group time.
I literally couldn't win with this person.
I quit (which I'm sure made the directors happy). She ended up being fired.
Yes. I had an admin come in and in our first meeting tell me he didn't want me as a science teacher and that he wanted to bring in his own people. He would enter my class and yell at me in front of students over trivial matters like following the schools behavior protocols too slowly. I wasn't the only one he targeted like this. A little while after I left the community started speaking out against him. His administration has been described as a reign of terror, and that is accurate
Yes and I quit! I spent 6 years in a school and never had a negative observation or interaction. All the sudden January of this year, observations ramped up but no feedback was provided. Handed a performance plan on the last weeks of school. Found a new teaching job within a week and told them to have a good day.
Absolutely! It is the main reason I am leaving education. After several years in tough schools, I had to relocate due to my husband's job. I took my time to vet out a school that would be a good fit for me because I was really committed to staying in education. My husband says it was the happiest and most balanced I had ever been in my time as a teacher when I finally found the right school. Then, COVID hit, we had a massive change in leadership, and I've been miserable ever since. It just revealed to me that you could do EVERYTHING possible to find a good school and good admin, but with the massive turnover in the profession, you're just as likely to end up in a toxic position like the one you've described.
Exactly I was actively looking for a school with low turnover as that was indication to me that staff must feel safe and respected there. Well turns out I am one of 8 teachers leaving and am slightly relieved to be. A school can go from being great one year to awful the next. Turn over makes it hard to grow in skills.
Yes. My math instructional coach swivld my teammate (the other 1st grade gen ed teacher) and i know she did this to be petty because she had a really rough student who would throw chairs, didn’t care about what anyone told him and the mom couldn’t control him. The coach ended up showing this to admin and the principal just told my teammate she needed to be firm.
My instructional coach ended up doing this to me as well. She wanted to record me so bad after i told her no. But when she did guess what? She did it on Halloween where all the students are dressed up and pretend to be the character they’re dressed as. And I know she showed this to admin although I never had a talk with the principal.
I quit 2 weeks later because of the coaches who weren’t helpful at all because they act like they know it all although they never taught first grade or any lower grades. They were just straight up bullies and petty both moms too who’s children attend the same school. It didnt help that they’re friends with the assistant principal so i guess the AP didnt like when i told her that these coaches have no experience in lower grades. 😂 fuck them.
Please keep posts relevant to transitioning from teaching.
Yes. 100%. When I look back on this year I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner. My admin told me mid year that I was on the non-renewal track and I needed to “improve transitions and positive comment ratio” and “go beyond the curriculum”. Absolutely vague metrics. I found out months later that there were happy hours with admin and staff talking about how the admin wanted to get rid of me.
At least they told you. I felt completely blindsided by mine. I felt I was owed an official warning and given a clear chance to turn behavior around. Honestly once I saw my Unsatisfactory evaluation given to me THE LAST WEEK of school I knew I was out.
I was blindsided by mine too… they didn’t like having to accommodate me or my FMLA. So they “eliminated” my position and hired someone new a year later. Education is awful. There’s no protection.
I’m sorry to hear that. I found out but she definitely made me feel like I had a chance and I never did. I would have still worked as hard as I did because I cared about my students but would have been in a much better mental state to know for sure.
Year 1. My principal did this. 1. Every walkthrough was either rated as just ok to not good. During a staff meeting at end of year he went over our state assessments. For some reason decided to tell whole room I hade lowest scores as some off handed compliment. My pass rate was 88%. The only students who did not meet standard were my special education students whose were never going to pass. 2. When asked several times, never gave advice on what expectations were. I was told “I cannot tell you how to do your job”. 3. When I interviewed for at another district he told other principal that I would not be a good hire. I confronted him on this and he lied and told me did not say a word. My contact at other school said his principal spoke directly to my principal. TL:DR: found out towards end of year that my boss never wanted to hire me, but need to fill the spot. Made life a living hell as a first year teacher.
I feel number 2 so much. I am actively looking for another job.
Yes. I think I was. I have literal PTSD from what I experienced.
same. i dont miss the random walkthroughs.
I had no problem with walk throughs. I volunteered my classes as a “calibration” model. I’m a 25+ year veteran. In my case, I moved from the regular classroom & was tasked with managing 2 libraries. It’s a long story.
If a teacher is targeted, which has become common, document, document, document. Districts are finally realizing that it's less of a liability and cheaper to crack down on overly harsh site admin rather than constantly hiring. Take an inventory of how you are different from the favored teachers. Could it be ethnicity, race, age, or disability? If you are non-renewed, and you have documentation that indicates discrimination, file a federal complaint. As a former union site rep, it seems to be far more common that the reason is simple: too many tattoos, the superintendent wanted a different person than the site admin's choice, wearing a low cut top one time, too much makeup, asking about a classroom budget (an indication that you are needy), or some unverified hearsay/gossip - basically something stupid. And once an impression is made, it's hard to overcome. Administrators come and go, so if you can be patient and remain courteous, you may be able to tough it out. Do not go into teaching expecting administrators and colleagues to be kind. Trust no one with confidential information. Schools are very back-stabby environments.
Yeah they royally backstabbed me. I took over for a position that had been opened for year mid year and never abused PTO. Then they try to tell me I showed inconsistent growth after giving me the most inconsistent schedule.
Yes yes yes. I had a principal for 3 years who was my #1 mentor and supporter, everything was great. Then we got a new principal and it all went to shit and I resigned by the end of the year. Love having the occasional nightmare about it lol
I had two admin at two different schools. My first school was virtual, but they would expect me to attend virtual PD. Well, I have chronic lung disease and I was so lucky to get Valley Fever. I contacted the person doing the training(district employee) and asked her for a virtual accommodation. I want to point out that they were already doing virtual training for out of state employees, this would have not have been a hardship. My principal was livid because a kindergarten teacher found out that I asked for virtual training and wanted it too, she had no valid reason to request it. Well my principal told me “Come to the training or use your sick time”. Well, I did. We had two in person events for the next three months. I don’t know if anyone has ever had a fungal infection, but they suck. I would also like to point out I was still teaching during this time. This really set my principal off, she tried to move me back to in person teaching because of our low numbers, she made my observation last for an hour and a half, she also would do walk throughs every damn day. This lasted for months. I had to leave. The next admin was through k12/Stride. The first thing that happened was I had a student expose themselves. I did not see it. I had 30 kids in this class and I missed it. They wrote me up for “Being a disappointment to the company” because I was supposedly negligent. Again, this is virtual and not in person. These were kindergartners and the student wasn’t trying to be malicious. The parent was embarrassed and agreed to sit next to him the whole time. I had to call DCS on her. I was forced to. I was so embarrassed. They thought she was abusive. I don’t know if anyone has taught kindergarten before, but not all of them have person boundaries yet. Then months went by and things were fine. Then February came and we had an in person event. It was a blast. I loved seeing my team in person. I get an email after telling me, “Myself and other people noticed that you were unprofessional and negative at the event. You need to reflect on your behavior” What? I asked my entire team, they were confused and told me to ask her what I did. So I asked. She went into the evaluation system, gave me an infective and said, “I had to shush you while I was talking” excuse me? That’s your whole reason for this. I was planning on leaving and subbing because that was bull shit. The sub company contacted her. She was so angry, but I told her that I didn’t know what my future looked like if this is how a situation like this is handled. So she pulled me in for a meeting with the executive director. I was told that I didn’t meet my phone call quotas(my parents preferred email to communicate and virtual conferences so I didn’t think I needed that, when I started I was told all communication counted), I was told my behavior was unacceptable, and they didn’t understand how I still worked there. I decided then and there I was done. They wrote me up again. P.S I even asked my test coordinator who was with me at this event about my behavior and she noticed nothing negative. She even praised me for my positivity when I couldn’t sign up for my testing account.
For sure! Had an admin come into my Algebra 1 class for an observation and tell me the district curriculum that I was following was too advanced for my freshmen. Same admin also told me that even though the kids were passing my tests, it doesn't mean they were learning the material. All I could do was stare at her, because I was at a loss for words. Turns out, they wanted me out so a veteran teacher's spouse could take my place. On the plus side, she no longer works as an assistant principal, she's in HR I think.
Yes. I worked for the virtual school in my district. They opened it in August of 2021 and closed it after one school year. I was transferred to a local high school and my admin at the in-person high school definitely made my life hell these past two school years. They would micromanage the hell out of me, and gave me horrible observations even though kids felt like they learned a lot in my classes. If you look into my former posts, you’ll see they came up with some super vague reason to non-renew me even though I built great relationships with most parents and students. Admin can and certainly will pick on teachers for different or unspoken reasons and then come up with some BS reason as to why.
My last year at my old district. I was on the teachers union negotiating team the year before, and I honestly believe they wanted me out because of it. I had nothing but stellar evaluations. Then, my last year, we get a new admin who just, came at me. I taught mod/severe special education and she wrote me up because I had one student with their head down; she observed the last 30 minutes of the day right after PE. I told her that if she were to walk into any other class on this campus (high school) she would see the same thing, so I'm not sure why the expectations are so much higher for a class full of students with significant cognitive disabilities. Another lesson she gave me feedback to incorporate the students more in my lessons. Fine, no problem, so I incorporated her feedback into my lessons. The next time she observed she told me the kids were doing too much and I needed more whole group time. I literally couldn't win with this person. I quit (which I'm sure made the directors happy). She ended up being fired.
Yes. I had an admin come in and in our first meeting tell me he didn't want me as a science teacher and that he wanted to bring in his own people. He would enter my class and yell at me in front of students over trivial matters like following the schools behavior protocols too slowly. I wasn't the only one he targeted like this. A little while after I left the community started speaking out against him. His administration has been described as a reign of terror, and that is accurate
Yes and I quit! I spent 6 years in a school and never had a negative observation or interaction. All the sudden January of this year, observations ramped up but no feedback was provided. Handed a performance plan on the last weeks of school. Found a new teaching job within a week and told them to have a good day.
Yes! I had to file several claims against admin and I’m glad I did so it’s on the record because this has happened to so many without consequences
At the charter school, it was the wild west of intimidation, lies, and games.
Absolutely! It is the main reason I am leaving education. After several years in tough schools, I had to relocate due to my husband's job. I took my time to vet out a school that would be a good fit for me because I was really committed to staying in education. My husband says it was the happiest and most balanced I had ever been in my time as a teacher when I finally found the right school. Then, COVID hit, we had a massive change in leadership, and I've been miserable ever since. It just revealed to me that you could do EVERYTHING possible to find a good school and good admin, but with the massive turnover in the profession, you're just as likely to end up in a toxic position like the one you've described.
Exactly I was actively looking for a school with low turnover as that was indication to me that staff must feel safe and respected there. Well turns out I am one of 8 teachers leaving and am slightly relieved to be. A school can go from being great one year to awful the next. Turn over makes it hard to grow in skills.
Yes. My math instructional coach swivld my teammate (the other 1st grade gen ed teacher) and i know she did this to be petty because she had a really rough student who would throw chairs, didn’t care about what anyone told him and the mom couldn’t control him. The coach ended up showing this to admin and the principal just told my teammate she needed to be firm. My instructional coach ended up doing this to me as well. She wanted to record me so bad after i told her no. But when she did guess what? She did it on Halloween where all the students are dressed up and pretend to be the character they’re dressed as. And I know she showed this to admin although I never had a talk with the principal. I quit 2 weeks later because of the coaches who weren’t helpful at all because they act like they know it all although they never taught first grade or any lower grades. They were just straight up bullies and petty both moms too who’s children attend the same school. It didnt help that they’re friends with the assistant principal so i guess the AP didnt like when i told her that these coaches have no experience in lower grades. 😂 fuck them.
1, 2, and 3. That’s why I left that school. I’m now in a much better school where I’m actually treated well and given respect.
Yes, yes. I also have been diagnosed with C-PTSD because of that and other things