SurvivingInfidelity.com^®

Hello, and I hope you've all had a great start to spring and a lovely Easter holiday. I haven't been around because with work I am absolutely swamped! No free time at all. This job sure isn't for the faint of heart.

I am going through a major, major crisis with work. Bottom line, I've tried my very best but I just can't take it anymore. Even worse, I'm only two years away from retirement pension and I will not qualify for anything close to the full pension amount if I just stay 2 more years. I have no husband, living parents anymore, children, or kinship. I don't even have pets. (no time) It's just me. I WILL NOT make enough to retire on my own, without this pension. I NEED this pension.

The principal and one of the vice principals has been really hard on me this year. In fact, they were awful the first year I was there, and they pushed me out to a sabbatical. They made me feel like I had no choice so I took it. Then I found out later that only I could make the choice of sabbatical so they were wrong to coerce me into it but it was already said and done with nothing I could do to change it. I really did enjoy my one year away from the eternal hell known as my job, although the financial strains from earning a half salary while being restricted by my employer contract from earning extra income while in sabbatical definitely upped my stress levels especially toward the end.

It seems they were mad when I returned to my same teaching position at their school after sabbatical ended, despite the union telling me I had every right to my old position that I'd left. The union assured me I should stay to get my pension. But now the principal is threatening to find a way to formally document me and get me fired if I stay. I am so frantic. This ordeal literally ruined my entire spring break for me two weeks ago.

Of course I have almost zero support system either these days. My brother keeps twisting around the blame on me, no matter what I say or do, and R hasn't been helpful either.

I am beyond devastated and bitter that 33 years of hard work and all nighters has gotten me next to nil.

I’m sorry to hear if your continued issues with your job.

I’m not a yea her so I don’t know how it works but a few questions:

1. What can the union do to protect you?

2. Can you get a lawyer to protect you so you can stay in the job for the next 2 years?

3. Can you get another role for the next 2 years so you can qualify for your full pension?

Agsin I’m sorry to continue to read this. Your toxic work environment is horrific.

This is not really anything new from the last time you posted about your job. Of course your principal said they will try to fire you, it's been obvious since before the sabbatical that they want you out. Why did you end your post as if you're already fired and lost full pension, you're not! You're probably not even close if the principal still needs to find something to document. You have due process rights in your union contract, learn the process and keep your union rep in the loop. You have 2 years to avoid trouble, demand your rights, appeal any losses, delay the process, whatever combination of legal means you have to get to that mark. 2 years is not a long time in context of a contested termination with union rights. All the while you can search for another position within the same pension system.

It sounds like you need to reach out to your union rep to let them know what's going on and maybe talk to a lawyer. Have you re-read your post from last September? You received some really good advice back then.

Well, like others have noted, this is exactly what you posted before when it was also clear to those of us who are in the teaching arena that your administration wants you gone. Like leafields, I’d suggest you go back and read your last thread about this where a lot of us gave you a lot of good suggestions. I’m going to try one last time with all of this and then move on.

Do you have issues surrounding infidelity that you need support with? That is what this board is. It’s to support those who have or are experiencing the trauma of infidelity.

We definitely aren’t the place to get professional advice about your job. There are many places online to get support and advice for that, and they will have more expert advice than we will.

As a teacher myself, here are my suggestions to you. Here is what I posted to you last time you posted about this exact same ongoing situation:

So I’m going to make a suggestion based on the administration’s clear desire to have you stop teaching. TALK TO YOUR UNION REPS. This has been suggested multiple times, and you haven’t responded. Don’t go to a single meeting with your admin without a union rep. Explain the situation to your union rep. Don’t blame your students or try to explain all of the things that are going wrong with not being allowed to stay late or with R trying to do your lesson plans. Just tell them that you understand that the administration sees the issues in your classroom and you don’t feel capable of fixing them. Tell them that you think the admin wants to find a way to fire you. Tell them that you’re willing to stop teaching but you need to protect and maximize your pension. Get their advice and LISTEN TO IT! You seem to have so much difficulty listening and really hearing what people say.

If the admin is motivated to get a teacher out of the classroom because it’s not working for the students, they can indeed put you in another duty for your remaining years. You have to know your rights and bargain for maxing your years. An administration can even decide to keep you on payroll to earn your retirement years without you teaching at all. This was done at my school to bargain an abusive teacher into retiring early. That ass stayed on the payroll for two more years to earn his retirement increment. GET SOME ACTUAL INFORMATION instead of repetitively posting over and over how none of this is going to work. Do what your reps tell you to do. Start exploring what is within your rights without forcing students to suffer for 3 more years.

So here it is again:

1. Your administration wants you gone. IF YOU ARE HAVING ANY MEETINGS WITH YOUR PRINCIPAL AND/OR VICE-PRINCIPAL WITHOUT YOUR UNION REP PRESENT, STOP DOING THAT NOW!! I can’t stress this enough. You have the right to request a union rep attend every single meeting with your administration, and you need to do that. You need another set of eyes and ears on the situation. You have tenure. They are trying to get you fired. Don’t be foolish.

2. Stop coming here for advice about your job. As I said before, the only people who can help you are your union reps. Their advice is something that you should get and listen to. We are here to help with infidelity.

3. Not only you, but your students are suffering in this situation. They are minors. They are dependent on you. If you can’t deliver what they need and deserve in the classroom, for whatever reason, the best solution here would involve you being assigned to a non-teaching position to serve out your 2 years. If they really want to get rid of you enough, your union reps might negotiate 2 years of service credit in exchange for resignation. You only get this by getting your union reps and the district at the table together to negotiate a resolution that either keeps you working until retirement or releases you with your full credit.

That’s really the best that can happen here. Know your rights and move forward to protect your benefits and, please, to also protect your students. Peace out.

I’m sorry to hear about your continued struggles with your job. I understand the demands and strain of teaching in a challenging environment. I teach at an underfunded high poverty Title 1 school in an area decimated by the opioid crisis. I love my students to no end and find my work meaningful and worthwhile, but the exhaustion is real, and the challenges of teaching students who experience high levels of trauma and show that in their behaviors can be overwhelming.

You hate your job and your admin wants you gone. That’s miserable. Only you can decide whether it’s worthwhile to stick it out two years or leave and give up the pension. Unless you’re already on a corrective action plan (or whatever they call it in your state/district, it’s highly unlikely that they can force you out in two years if you’re tenured and have a union. Unions have virtually no power in my state, but it still takes three years to force out a tenured teacher unless they’ve committed criminal or egregious acts.

Meet with your union rep. Take a deep breath. Look, REALLY look, at your options. Choose one and make the best of it.

Also, it’s almost summer. This time of year is really hard for teachers. Most of us are feeling the end of year burnout. You can make it to the end of the year. Focus on yourself, your students, and creating simple, streamlined, but effective lessons. Best of luck.