Since I last posted, a lot has happened. (I feel like a lot of my posts have begun this way, so I apologize for any redundancy.) A few days after my last post, I decided to talk to my principal and assistant principal about teaching AP Lit next year. Two or three days later, the current AP teacher resigned to become principal of another school. I felt like finally the stars were aligning, and I didn't know what to do with that feeling.
Then, about a week later, our CEO was ousted by the board. I made some flippant remarks on here several months ago regarding an email she sent shortly after taking control of our charter in the fall, and now I regret that because it was directed at the situation and not at her. In the same way President Obama inherited a failing economy, our charter's CEO inherited all our bad debt. She had to make harsh and unpopular decisions, such as the 25% slash in all our school's budgets. While that resulted in our layoffs back in October, I realize she had to hurt the few to save the whole. She was open and honest about our financial status and her plan to make it right, and for that reason, she gained the respect and confidence of the staff, parents, and students. For the sake of anonymity, I don't want to elaborate on why she was asked to leave, but I will say her forced resignation left a lot of people unhappy.
The new CEO starts in the summer, and that feeling of uncertainty is returning. At least before I felt like I had some confidence we were going to be financially stable for next school year. Now I don't know. I don't know what this guy's plan will be--merger, closures, layoffs, or something else.
Three CEOs, 40% teacher layoffs, 25% budget cuts, and one large cloud of uncertainty all in one academic year does not bode well for morale or confidence. So much for stars aligning.
