Dear Pink-Slipped Teacher,
It's been almost twenty years since I received my first, and only, pink slip, but every single time I see a new teacher grappling with the uncertainty of the "If we can ask you back, we will, but we simply can't guarantee anything right now," talk I relive the memory.
I really didn't know paper had that much power, but for me, that day it did. Others tried to affirm me, "Oh, they'll definitely ask you back. That's just protocol. You're a great teacher."
I appreciated the sentiments, but their words meant nothing to me. The words that mattered were the fancy ones on the page. Fancy words, that when sifted, added up to an accepted truth I had been battling all year, "Maybe I am not cut out to be a teacher. "
Those were some trying days, but they weren't nearly as tough as the time my identical twin sister was pink-slipped after three years of being at a school she loved and that loved her back. She had a master's degree and eight years of teaching experience.
District cuts they said, so many district cuts.
My husband (also a teacher) was involved in those same cuts. I was standing in the driveway with our three-week-old son when he broke the news to me. We thought we were on the brink of a stress-free summer enjoying our newborn. Instead, he went on 16 interviews to finally obtain a position two days before school started.
These are the days they never warn you about when they are waxing poetic about the difference you will make.
This week teachers across the country are feeling the same agonizing sting I have felt- that familiar bleed that calms, then flares again in a matter of seconds as lingering days are spent waiting in limbo for a phone call, an interview, a glimmer of hope that reminds you everything is going to be okay.
I wish I could tell you it will be okay for you too and have you actually believe me, but I know full well the fluffy words I am typing are no match for the fancy words that you can't forget.
As such, I will not patronize you with hopeful platitudes.
What I can, emphatically and truthfully, tell you is this though. All three people in this personal anecdote are still in the field of education and loving what they do despite the trying times that were (and still are).
I can also offer you a piece of advice that I think will serve you well in this profession. "Don't believe all the fancy words you hear in education. Most of them are lies."
The real truth is inside of you. Won't you tap into it today?
-CDB
P.S. For what it is worth, in twenty years, I have never seen a good teacher who wanted a teaching job out of work. Nope. Not even once.