I had a week to remember. We all agreed that it was pretty much the worst week we had all experienced, and that includes teachers that had been teaching in the system for over twenty years. It seems that all our concerns about lack of vision, lack of consistency, and a complete lack of planning of any kind all came to a head in one terrible week, the Perfect Storm of Errors and Complacency.
I learned long ago not to make a statement in a blog that you weren't prepared to make a.) to the person or persons concerned, and b.) to your mother. I have notified the administration of my workplace that the last week was exactly as stated above, the worst I have ever seen, and I have the additional advantage of having worked for government contractors EG&G and Lockheed-Martin, so I have seen some pretty bad administrations. But I had never seen conditions such that I didn't know what the rules under which I was to discipline my students were from day to day. Infractions change daily, penalties change daily, even the person making the decision changes daily!I informed administration that this situation was not only bad for morale, it was untenable. Period. (The new school motto: A new day, a new way!)
Thinking back on my life (I'm doing a lot of that lately, which I think is the purpose of this blog), I consider the times when I faced issues or situations that I thought were right or wrong, and someone or something tried to get me to change my position for what ever reason. I know that through most of my life, I have been very clear; what is right is right. Period.
What that left me with is a trail of jobs that I was fired from ('relieved' is the Navy term), and a set of situations I had to leave to find new pastures. I was relieved from a division leader position in the Navy at the Training Unit because I refuse to have my division paint joints that were under vacuum with shellac in order to pass a critical test to get the plant started up. Instead, I chose to do it the right (and slow) way which would have delayed the start-up. In my defense, everyone agreed that the old shellac trick was bad, but since it was quick, the Chief asked around for a First Class that would do it, and as soon as he found one, I was relieved.
That's the one that sticks in my mind for some reason, there are others. I have had six careers (including the present one), and all of them except the Navy I left on my terms. What more could a person want?
My dad told me once 'You have to go along to get along.' I have never, ever been able to do that. I tried, honestly I tried when I worked for the State of Florida's Agency for Workforce Innovation. Getting along, however, meant firing a man that did nothing to deserve it. In fact, the man that my boss wanted me to lay off had the best numbers in the whole section. I couldn't 'go along' any more, and I laid myself off instead.
Try to stay true to what you think is right. It might refine as you get older, but it will never go away.
MMG
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