Riffed

7/26/12:

Well, fuck. Alex got laid off. It was not unexpected, of course, but I think we were both holding out a little faith that because he loved his job and was a devoted educator and employee, that maybe he'd be spared. Unfortunately, after weeks of being in the dark - about whether or not he would have a teaching position, whether it would indeed be at the same school, whether he would coach soccer and in what capacity - he got word that, indeed, Southridge High School will no longer have the space or money for his (excellent) services. He's pissed. Rightfully so. Had the teachers voted in favor of 10+ furlough days, more teachers might have been spared. I keep hoping The Oregonian will get a well-worded letter to the editor from him. But it seems he's too upset to actually sit down and write anything worth printing.

The silver lining, I suppose, is that he was smart enough (and lucky enough) to have initiated a back-up plan in the Spring. He interviewed for two positions in the West Linn School District, and was offered a job teaching freshman and junior English at my alma mater. The principal was nice enough to give him multiple extensions for his response, and when Alex found out he got riffed from Beaverton, he promptly accepted the job at West Linn.

The hardest part for Alex - aside from losing his fabulous bike commute - is how much he resists change. He's not a big fan of transitions, and although he almost always ends up loving what he's doing, it takes him a while to let go of the old and warm up to the new.

The pros of the new job: he remains employed; he and Trevor will be co-workers; he will get to teach a population of students with a bit more support and more motivation to learn ... He has paid employment through the next year, and we have only one month in between the two contracts where we pay out of pocket for our health insurance.

The cons: he has to make new friends; he will commute by car; he loses his two-years of seniority in the Beaverton School District; he will miss his students; he no longer teaches electives Media as Lit and Creative Writing.

Beaverton laid off more than 200 teachers and transferred more than 300. Sure, it sucks for our family. It sucks for those teachers who might not have other job opportunities. It sucks for the teachers who remain because they lose their colleagues and the schools have poor morale. But most importantly it sucks for the students.