Greetings friends,

I would appreciate it if someone can shed some light on my case and
give me some guidance what to do next.

I am a newly credentialed but very competent, 44 year old math teacher
living in California. I also have a Masters Degree in engineering from
UCLA. Two years ago, I gave up a year and a half with no pay, and
spent $23,000 to obtain a teaching credential at a well known and
grueling teacher training program. My GPA is 4.0. I was one of the top
students in my class and earned the respect of my colleagues and
instructors. As a student teacher I was formally observed dozens of
times at four schools by three supervisors, a dozen colleagues and
nine teachers/mentors. At the high school where I student taught two
block periods, my mentor, one of the most respected math teachers,
observed me for a full semester on a daily basis and gave me an
excellent letter of recommendation. If there was a major problem, I
would not have continued with my teaching career.

In August 2002, I was hired on a one year temporary full time basis to
teach math at a local junior high school. All new teachers in the
District are required to undergo three formal observations by a school
administrator. Subsequently, a final evaluation would be written up by
the administrator based primarily on these observations.

Up until February 2002, I consistently received high praise from the
principal, and all my three observations by her met and exceeded
District standards. All my colleagues that read the observations
agreed that my final evaluation had to be positive, and that if I
played my cards right, I would definitely be rehired. A veteran math
teacher and mentor of mine told me that in private conversations with
the Principal, she mentioned to him that she saw some nice qualities
in me not usually found in other teachers, and that she wanted to hire
me back for next year. During one of my meetings with her, I mentioned
that since my contract was temporary, I would soon be looking at other
schools in the District. She told me that she wanted me back at her
school if the enrollment numbers looked good, and wanted me to give
her a shot at me before the other schools

Around March 2003, the District announced that there would be large
job cuts and many teachers would not be rehired. Around that time, the
Principal's demeanor changed and in casual conversations she advised
me that I should file a postdated resignation because it would look
"better" on my record than a naturally expired temporary contract with
no rehire, which she said would be perceived negatively by other
employers. Such advice didn't make sense to me and I elected not to
resign. As a result, when she issued her final evaluation, the report
seemed positive overall, yet she checked the "unsatisfactory" box,
effectively killing my chances of getting rehired by the District. She
explained that while she would have liked to check the "satisfactory"
box (meets/exceeds District standards), the form "design" was poor in
not allowing her more flexibility to rate my performance, with only
two choices to check. This was clearly a bogus excuse. The phrasing
next to the boxes gave plenty of latitude, a fact confirmed by our
union rep. Whatever minor problems she alleged on the evaluation, I
offered to correct. She appeared uninterested and told me that the
report could not be changed at a later date and had to be submitted to
the District within a few days. This turned out to be another lie
after I checked with my union rep. Whereas our previous meetings were
always positive, she was full of petty blame this time, making false
accusations and refusing to listen to my explanations and evidence. At
the end of our meeting it became clear to me that this was a hatchet
job.

Feeling very unhappy and cheated, I mentioned to some colleagues that
I was going to quit my job. Word got to her, and she was terrified of
the consequences (angry parents, etc.) She called me in and tried to
soothe me, told me that I was a great teacher and she needed me, the
kids needed me, blamed the problem on poor form design again, and
offered to check the "satisfactory" box instead. But, there was one
problem, she explained. In order to "make it legal" and to "supercede"
the layoff letter I had received from the District earlier, I would
have to file a letter of resignation. This was another bogus statement
according to my union rep.

At this point then, the Principal was offering me two choices, both
damaging to my career, both designed to blackball me and prevent me
from getting rehired by the District. She told me that junior high was
not the optimum environment for me and that I would be a great fit in
a high school. Yet her actions consistently showed that she wanted to
prevent me from getting hired by any school in the District, including
high schools. She encouraged me to look at other districts instead,
claiming that our District has no openings for next year. This turned
out to be another of her numerous lies. She finally coerced me into
signing a letter of resignation by telling me that she would only
write me a good letter of recommendation at the end of the year if I
complied.

After the school year ended in June 2003, I reapplied to the District.
As it turned out they did have openings, even at the high school where
I had done my student teaching and had received an excellent
recommendation. The District instead decided to hire younger teachers
that are not only less qualified than me, but who have no math
credentials, to teach math. One of the teachers I personally know. He
has no credential, worked as a sub and has a speech impediment that
severely affects his diction. This does not make any sense. It is
also, I believe, against regulation mandated by the State of
California to hire teachers with no credentials for core subjects such
as math and science.

I am well liked by all my colleagues and department chairs and have
received praise and thank you letters from parents and students. I was
a team player, arrived to school on time, was never late to any of my
classes, and never missed a single day despite coming down with five
nasty colds.

I am puzzled why I have been blackballed. There are various
possibilities.

The District needed to get rid of some teachers and I happened to be a
convenient target.
There was another female math teacher at the school that would have
been laid off before me since she didn't have a credential and was
lower in rank as a result. The Principal needed to keep her because
she is married to a special ed teacher at the same school. Principal
feared losing both of them and special ed teachers are hard to come
by.
Age Discrimination. It is an open secret, and I have heard other
principals say off the record that they prefer to hire younger
teachers.
While all this was happening, I was in touch with my union rep, and
though he agrees that the principal was being dishonest and that
something fishy is going on, he claims that the union is powerless to
help because I am a new teacher, was on a temporary contract, and that
it is my word against hers.

I should mention that I had typical new teacher problems, but they
weren't serious. Unfortunately, the Principal was lax in enforcing
school discipline, which created problems for the whole school. After
I was attacked on two separate occasions by the same student, he
should not have been allowed back into class, yet the Principal did
not enforce the rules. In the first three weeks of school, after
bringing to her attention the thuggish behavior of several students in
one of my classes, she apologized to me and told me that the school
had made a mistake and put the "wrong mixture" of students in my
class, and that she was going to break up the class. She never
followed through, and later had the temerity to claim that the class
problems were due to my not repeating my class rules everyday. I
mentioned that when I referred kids to her assistant principals,
nothing was done and the kids were sent right back to class. Again,
she threw the problem right back into my lap and said that it was my
duty to make sure that the AP's were doing their jobs!!!

Can you guys please advise me. I am very depressed and confused and
don't know what to do. I had high hopes to be an excellent teacher and
to help our kids. I am unemployed now and it is too late to get a
teaching job this year elsewhere plus I would have to move out of the
area and I can't. I am taking care of my mom. It has been apparent all
along the District and the $107,000 a year Principal don't have the
best interest of the kids in mind.

Thanks