The Game

If all I had to do was teach kids how to play string instruments and put on a few concerts each school year, I would consider myself to have one of the easiest jobs in the world.  I love teaching, I really do.  What I don't love are all the things they don't teach you in college.  Like the fact that education is not just teaching. It is a highly strategic Game in which The Rules are always changing.

The latest drama at work has been the passing of a new contract.  Being a relatively new teacher, this new contract doesn't really bother me.  At my old school, I never got a raise just for being there another year and I was evaluated by administrators all the time.  Sure, it was a little nerve-wracking when you were being observed, but I considered it part of the job.  I had just graduated college, during which I was evaluated on my teaching all the time.  Teachers who are in their 10th, 20th, 30th year of teaching simply balked at the idea of being given a grade on their performance.  Then on top of the evaluation aspect, we found out our pay raises were going to be based on obtaining a certain number of "units".  We can earn units by:

- Receiving a rating of "highly effective" on our evaluation (which is hard to do in all categories, especially if your particular administrator doesn't know you or like you)

- Serving community service hours within the school district (I think 15 hours = 1 unit)

- Having your Master's degree (gotta spend money to make money...?)

- Taking advantage of leadership opportunities (running a workshop, speaking at a conference, etc...)

- A few other ways that I don't remember.

In the end, the soonest anyone could possibly get a raise would be every 3 years, and that is only if he/she did everything right.  Again, I feel like this is still relatively fair.  The school district in which I teach is the highest paying district in the state, so my initial salary, without my orchestra stipends, is still more than most teachers would make after 6 years of teaching.  And it is certainly way more than I made at my other school.

The fact that earning units eventually gives  me a raise does not bother me very much.  I am fortunate enough to have a husband whose salary is much higher than mine, so our livelihood is pretty secure at this point.  I don't think I'm bad enough to get fired, and if I made exactly what I make right now for the rest of my life, we would still be OK.  What irks me is the fairness in all of this.  I don't understand why I can't just show up and do my job.  (Probably because too many teachers have abused the system and "showed up and did their job" poorly)

Let's look at Rule #1 in The Game: Receiving a "highly effective" rating on my evaluation.  Do I think this is impossible?  Yes.  Because I am not a highly effective teacher?  No, not necessarily.  I have the evaluation sheet and I know exactly on what I am being evaluated.  I know who is evaluating me (our principal) and when she is coming.  So why is it impossible for me to get a "highly effective"?  I think back to Driver's Ed when I was given a B+ because "I don't give A's to students so young"; I can't imagine my principal, who barely knows me, doesn't know anything about orchestra or how to teach music or a performing ensemble, doesn't give a crap that I have a conducting minor (what is conducting?) will give me a rating of "highly effective" even if I do everything right.  It's just not going to happen.

Rule #2 in The Game: Serving community service hours within the school district. My after school hours are spent mostly with music students and at colleagues concerts, fulfilling my duties as an orchestra teacher, which I am given a stipend for.  So I can't really count these hours as community service.  I signed up to sell tickets for 3 sporting events this year.  That will count for 6 hours at the most.  Where are the other 11 going to come from?  I'm sure I could find something to do for 11 more hours to fill this criteria, but for Heaven's sake, don't we work hard enough?  Aren't I giving back enough by working my hardest every day in the classroom?  Nope, evidently not.

Rule #3 in The Game:  Having your Master's degree.  My friends who finished their Masters' recently said it was going to take them 7 years to pay it off.  That is with a salary of 10 + years experience (I am at 0 years).  And with the new contract, you are no longer allowed to make a parallel move on the pay scale.  (Bachelor's 7 yrs experience to Master's 7 yrs experience)  Now you have to go from Bachelor's 7 yrs experience to Master's 0 years experience, which is hardly a raise at all!  And money aside, when do I have the time to take online classes while I'm working to earn a "highly effective" and serving community service hours?

Rule #4 in The Game: Taking advantage of leadership opportunities.  I am 25 years old.  Who is going to come to a conference and listen to a 25 year old talk about education?  I actually had a good idea about starting a club for teachers at my school, but I'm really afraid to bring it up because I'm brand new at the school.  There are rules to be followed when it comes to taking leadership roles as a young person.  These rules get in the way of the Rules of The Game.

On top of all these Rules, there are millions of other tiny rules to follow.  There are people you don't mess with, there are people you can only ask certain questions, there are people you have to make feel important or else they will squash you, there are people who you can't talk to unless you first talk to other people.  Teachers, administrators, department heads, secretaries, custodians: they all play a certain position and I have to learn how to navigate around them while still following The Rules of The Game.

All I have to worry about is my own Game: helping kids learn to love music by playing an instrument.  As long as they allow me to keep doing this, I can try to let The Rules go.