AboutPatricia Ireland-Williams Expertise I am a retired K-12 Public School Principal (8 years as a teacher and counselor) and 23 years as an administrator. I can help parents with questions about how the system works, provide ideas on how to solve school issues or assist teachers in coping with the plethera of stressors they face.
Experience I am currently an educational consultant and have served on the State of Arizona Solutions Team.
Question ..sorry..I forgot to mention this questions.
my friend has 17 years of teaching experience and great recommendations FROM ALL the schools he worked at....Sooooo....if this particular school I told you about who is making problems for him, that even the TEACHERS UNION IS BAFFLED AT AND IS TRYING TO SOLVE (when we can ever get in touch with them)
....how can we PREVENT him getting a BAD reference from this job????????? Can the teachers' union prevent this?????? Can they grievance the situation so these people do not give him a BAD reference when he does not deserve it...You may say..well ask the teachers union but they are NOT AVAILABLE and busy all the time......if you have any answers NOW so we can KNOW without constant Waiting, that would be great...thanks..Angie
Answer In my state, Arizona, the Unions welcome the opportunity to help their collegues....I encourage you to keep trying to contact them but know that you will have to have a grievable offense.......one that violates the teacher's negotiated agreement (which is negotiated year to year). If it is a situation of differing philosophies, etc., they may not be able to help you.
Thanks for clarifying that this is a veteran teacher. With that kind of experience he should have been tenured in a school by now.....moving around from job to job can be self defeating because the teacher loses tenure benefits and big salary increases that come from staying in one school District.
I still think that your friend should do everything he can to turn this situation around. If it is really a situation which has no solution, maybe he can negotiate with the personnel director to resign without penalties associated with breaking a contract. If he has not been there a full calendar year, he might be able to get away with not listing it as a reference. Know that any future employer is likely to ask where he has worked prior to the interview. One can't be too careful these days.....
Best of luck, Angie. Hope your friend appreciates you!
