#29

Let's play the numbers game for a minute... From what I understand, 266 pink slips were handed out in my school district two weeks ago. Among those, 144 were for teachers currently placed in elementary school positions. And that number does not include "temporary" teachers (those who have been with the district for 1 or 2 years). Temporary teachers don't have the same rights as probationary and tenured teachers do, so they don't even get pink slips-- more like a hand shake followed by a "don't let the door hit you on the way out." It sucks for them, big time-- they are in a much worse position than I am in, and I always think of that when I start to dwell on the pink slip issue.

This morning, though, the sun broke through the clouds! I received my ranking number-- the number that tells me where I am on the rehiring list (basically, it's a seniority list of all the pink-slipped elementary school teachers). And I'm #29 out of 144! That is NOT BAD! :) I thought I'd have a decent number, but being in the twenties was a nice surprise. Especially when you consider that 20+ teachers have already announced plans to retire at the end of this year. Plus, the budget situation will likely improve enough to hire at least some people back. So, I'm feeling pretty good right now-- pretty optimistic. I'm happy to be #29!