Don't Cry for me, Pasadena
I have much emotion concerning this story, so I'm not sure how well I am going to relay this. I feel beaten physically and emotionally from this job, and I know that, Scorpio that I am, I tend to play up the drama in a story, but I embroider nothing here.
The upshot is that apparently I took the wrong class this summer for my permit. I took a doctoral level class instead of an undergrad level. Truth is, after I quit PISD last year, I threw away my deficiency plan (see, I was trying to toss out things I didn't need and to quit being such a pack rat. See where it got me!). Therefore, when I reupped my contract with PISD, I had to quickly register for some classes. Due to late registration, there were "slim pickins," so I picked the two that I remembered by name as being on the plan. I didn't think about the numbers.
That said, my principal, a man of much integrity, sees me in the hall and says, "Hey Kim, some guy from HR wants to talk to you about your certification stuff." I must've shown my emotion on my face because he added, "I know. You gave them everything. This is just what they do to get back at me." Apparently, they hate him because he bends the rules, so I'm caught in the middle of a war (See previous post--Pissed at Pisd).
After much research and discovery of nepotism, I find the correct person in HR and send him an email. He writes back that he wants to have a meeting with me on Monday (this was last Friday). I've, thus, spent the week trying to figure out what the meeting was about. HRguy wont tell me, so after much pleading and badgering by my principal, HRguy sends his secretary, The VapidWonder, to write me an email. I've had a run in already with VW, and she fears me, so you can imagine how this is going.
She sends me an email telling me about the class, stating that i needed to have gotten permission to take a higher level class. She also stated that my emergency permit has not been issued because I never got my fingerprinting done with SBEC. She then states that I must be enrolled at UH this semester, retaking the class that I screwed up. She ends with this insightful sentence: "The problem, your original permit has not been issued therefore, we should not have renewed your permit until you had the above issues taken care of."
I write her back several emails saying that I spoke with the people at UH and that in reality, I have until 2007 to finish my certification, whereas PISD is only giving me until the end of the year (something they say is per the state of TX). UH says that PISD is wrong about the TX thing but that they have the right to go against the state and provide their own timeline (what's the point of the state?). I end that letter with a question about what my next step should be.
She writes back the same email as before. I write back saying that I know that I screwed up and took the wrong course, but that's water under the bridge, so what's my next step. She writes back with the same email, copying everyone in the damn district. This inane process continues for several emails. Finally, I write a one page email (linked later) about how I apologize for being new to public education and not knowing the ropes. I feel like i'm blindly going through this process, and my suggestion is that they give all new employees a checklist of some sort so that we know what needs to be done. Then I mention that I have no clue as to what the SBEC is (turns out its the State Board of Education) and that I didn't know I needed to get any fingerprinting done with them. I've had it done with PISD and Houston.
I said that I wasn't enrolled at UH presently because I didn't know I took the wrong class; therefore, it was virtually impossible to anticipate that I would need to retake the lower level class. Now, the semester is at midterm. There's no point. Plus, I have an application in progress at Region IV where I can get alternatively certified in a semster.
I end the email as before with the question, "So where are we then? I'm at a loss as to what to do with this, and I'd like to know what this means in terms of my position." I also state that I am in awe of the red tape that is involved in teaching at a Texas public school and that I find it sad that such bureaucracy is keeping me from doing that I believe is my most important function, providing a creative, technologically savvy, sound educational experience for my students. Taking me out of classes and prep time for circular conversations seems fruitless. My final sentence is that "I am gradually losing faith in the educational system of Texas" and that " a large part of me wants to withdraw my application from Region IV." More to come.
The upshot is that apparently I took the wrong class this summer for my permit. I took a doctoral level class instead of an undergrad level. Truth is, after I quit PISD last year, I threw away my deficiency plan (see, I was trying to toss out things I didn't need and to quit being such a pack rat. See where it got me!). Therefore, when I reupped my contract with PISD, I had to quickly register for some classes. Due to late registration, there were "slim pickins," so I picked the two that I remembered by name as being on the plan. I didn't think about the numbers.
That said, my principal, a man of much integrity, sees me in the hall and says, "Hey Kim, some guy from HR wants to talk to you about your certification stuff." I must've shown my emotion on my face because he added, "I know. You gave them everything. This is just what they do to get back at me." Apparently, they hate him because he bends the rules, so I'm caught in the middle of a war (See previous post--Pissed at Pisd).
After much research and discovery of nepotism, I find the correct person in HR and send him an email. He writes back that he wants to have a meeting with me on Monday (this was last Friday). I've, thus, spent the week trying to figure out what the meeting was about. HRguy wont tell me, so after much pleading and badgering by my principal, HRguy sends his secretary, The VapidWonder, to write me an email. I've had a run in already with VW, and she fears me, so you can imagine how this is going.
She sends me an email telling me about the class, stating that i needed to have gotten permission to take a higher level class. She also stated that my emergency permit has not been issued because I never got my fingerprinting done with SBEC. She then states that I must be enrolled at UH this semester, retaking the class that I screwed up. She ends with this insightful sentence: "The problem, your original permit has not been issued therefore, we should not have renewed your permit until you had the above issues taken care of."
I write her back several emails saying that I spoke with the people at UH and that in reality, I have until 2007 to finish my certification, whereas PISD is only giving me until the end of the year (something they say is per the state of TX). UH says that PISD is wrong about the TX thing but that they have the right to go against the state and provide their own timeline (what's the point of the state?). I end that letter with a question about what my next step should be.
She writes back the same email as before. I write back saying that I know that I screwed up and took the wrong course, but that's water under the bridge, so what's my next step. She writes back with the same email, copying everyone in the damn district. This inane process continues for several emails. Finally, I write a one page email (linked later) about how I apologize for being new to public education and not knowing the ropes. I feel like i'm blindly going through this process, and my suggestion is that they give all new employees a checklist of some sort so that we know what needs to be done. Then I mention that I have no clue as to what the SBEC is (turns out its the State Board of Education) and that I didn't know I needed to get any fingerprinting done with them. I've had it done with PISD and Houston.
I said that I wasn't enrolled at UH presently because I didn't know I took the wrong class; therefore, it was virtually impossible to anticipate that I would need to retake the lower level class. Now, the semester is at midterm. There's no point. Plus, I have an application in progress at Region IV where I can get alternatively certified in a semster.
I end the email as before with the question, "So where are we then? I'm at a loss as to what to do with this, and I'd like to know what this means in terms of my position." I also state that I am in awe of the red tape that is involved in teaching at a Texas public school and that I find it sad that such bureaucracy is keeping me from doing that I believe is my most important function, providing a creative, technologically savvy, sound educational experience for my students. Taking me out of classes and prep time for circular conversations seems fruitless. My final sentence is that "I am gradually losing faith in the educational system of Texas" and that " a large part of me wants to withdraw my application from Region IV." More to come.
Labels: pisd
posted by Cranky at 10:54 AM
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