When you're between careers, you do a lot of reflecting.
It's natural due to the abundance of time you have to think about where you are and where you want to go. As much as you want to maintain a positive outlook on where you're headed, part of you will always wonder what could have been. When this happens, you have a tendency to look back on your life and the decisions that brought you to where you are. For myself, every once in awhile, I will check in on my previous employers to see how they are doing. I recently did this a few nights ago and felt compelled to share what I learned. For better or worse, here are the goings on of all of my previous employers as well as a summary of where they were when I left them.
Philo Magnet Academy
Status in June, 2009: When I left my first teaching job at Philo Magnet Academy in Winston-Salem, North Carolina the situation there was very much up in the air. The school had been designated a county-wide magnet school in hopes of attracting a more affluent student population to improve test scores. However that hadn't happened and the five-year magnet grant was set to expire in a year. Should the school not improve its scores the next year (and there's no indication that would happen) then there was the possibility of being "restructured," a term often referenced yet seldom defined. It could simply mean anything from replacing a principal to instituting additional professional development to staff or even to removing the entire staff and starting anew. The problem is that nobody knew what it meant and there was a cloud of uncertainty hanging over all of us. My mentor, a veteran teaching of nearly thirty years, told me that if I had any options whatsoever now would be the time to pursue them. I followed his advice and applied to grad school and when I got accepted it was clear that I would be leaving Philo for greener pastures.
Status in April, 2016: Three years after I left, Philo was restructured in that it was merged with another low-achieving middle school nearby named Hill Middle School. The result was Philo-Hill Magnet Academy. Surprisingly enough, when you combine the two lowest achieving middle schools in the district, the resulting school also performs poorly and this year Philo-Hill has been named one of three "priority schools" that will be scheduled to receive grant money and will undergo "substantive changes" starting in the fall. What those changes will be remains unclear but the current principal will be replaced and, for now, the staff will retain their jobs. Of the people I worked with between 2007-2009, only one still teaches at the school. A couple teachers took jobs as the district office, while a couple others chose to transfer to other schools. There were even a couple teachers who ended up leaving the profession entirely after leaving when I did. Overall, it seems like Philo-Hill is a couple years away from being permanently shut down, pushed aside by a school district that has repeatedly failed to provide them the needed resources to work with students from the most impoverished area of the city.
Health Sciences High and Middle College
Status in June, 2010: When I left Health Sciences in San Deigo, the school had just had its first graduation, with a total of roughly 40 students. The school was set to expand the next year with an additional building down the street as it would be the first time the school would have full 9-12 classes totaling nearly 500 students. I knew the school needed a senior social studies teacher and I expressed my interest to the CEO. However, he dismissed me and stated that the school had only brought me on in a role as a long-term sub and had no desire to bring me on going forward. Eventually, the social studies position was given to the freshman math teacher who had a degree in art education. Long story short, the school was one giant patronage system where the administration with ties to San Diego State would bring on friends, family, and recent graduates with no regard for their qualifications. For those of us with no connections to administration or SDSU, we found ourselves on the outside looking in.
Status in April, 2016: Health Sciences now has full 9-12 enrollment and has also added a middle school as well. The school has continued to promote internally with those using their connections to advance. The high school principal originally got her start by being one of the CEO's secretaries. The new middle school principal had previously been a science teacher at the high school and was originally recruited by one of the CEOs from a neighboring high school after going through the SDSU master's program. The high school's new vice principal is one of the CEO's' nephew who started out as a school resource officer before then becoming a special education assistant, despite not having an education degree or background. Staff such as myself with no connections have gradually been pushed out with five teachers I worked with now having left the profession entirely. One teacher I do keep in touch with teaches freshman English but is also paid by the school to travel once every other week and engage in professional development trainings. When she does these, she references material that the CEO has written and essentially hocks his books. The patronage system is alive and well at Health Sciences High and Middle College.
Coleman Tech Charter High School
Status in June, 2013: Like Health Sciences, Coleman Tech also had its first graduation right before I left. This occurred with the roughly 20 senior graduates, many of whom started when the school opened in the fall of 2010 in a separate building. As I was leaving the school had roughly 160 students in full grades 9-12 in a permanent building located down the street from where the school had started. The big concern was the riff between teachers and administration. Many of us had lost faith in our CEO who seemed unwilling to address various concerns we had had regarding the direction in which the school was headed. In addition, I personally had been asked to take a part-time position as my role as health/PE/Spanish/social studies teacher was deemed to not be part of the "critical needs" staff moving forward. As I pointed out in my resignation letter, I did not agree with a distinction like this when the culinary arts teacher was allowed to keep her full-time position. I also pointed out that the culinary arts teacher's husband and the CEO's husband were good friends and that I felt this played a role in determining why she was allowed to keep her full-time position while I was asked to scale back mine. I ended up leaving along with two other teachers who were also asked to take lesser roles and refused to do so.
Status in April, 2016: Coleman Tech had its charter renewed after five years and currently has roughly 170 students in grades 9-12. The CEO was forced to resign in the fall of 2015 by the board of directors. The assistant principal assumed the role of principal despite not having a degree in educational leadership and a new assistant principal was brought in to take his place. Of the original staff that started there in the fall of 2010, only two teachers remain: the vice-principal and an English teacher. Despite having roughly the same number of students, there are eight full-time staff and nearly half a dozen part-time staff to service student needs. Of those I worked with, three teachers left when I did and another one left a year later and two others are no longer working there. Even the culinary arts teacher, despite being on good terms with the CEO, could not handle her leadership style and left before the 2015 school year. Most recent test scores show that nearly 60% of students failed the CA High School Exit Exam, and the website GreatSchools.org which uses cumulutive test scores to rate a school, gave Coleman Tech a 2 out of 10 for low test scores across the board.
Steele Canyon High School
Status in June, 2014: When I was let go by Steele Canyon in Spring Valley, CA, the big issue was the direction in which the school was headed. The outgoing principal who gave me my pink slip, was to be replaced but the core group of four vice-principals was to remain in tact. The other issue was Cougar Explorations, a program that gave students the opportunity to take a weekly course in a non-academic area for the school's sophomore and junior classes. This program was in its third year when I was there and still faced resistance from the "old guard" of teachers who didn't feel that it was an appropriate use of the school day. Of the teachers in my first year cohort including my colleague who came over with me from Coleman Tech, I was the only one who was not asked to return which I believe was a reflection of the foreign language department seeking to replace me. The foreign language department was headed by a young teacher and this seemed to infuriate the department's eldest member who would frequently shoot down any proposed idea or suggestion. Based on my experience, I believe the foreign language department wanted a teacher they could control and mold and didn't see me as that person due to my core beliefs and values.
Status in April, 2016: Steele Canyon remains largely unchanged. My friend is still teaching and is about to become a tenured staff member. Those in my first year cohort still have positions. The only person I know that left was a member of the guidance department and he took a position working for San Diego State. The foreign language department still has the same staff, including the woman who replaced me in the fall of 2014. However, it is interesting to note that the school no longer has the explorations program but rather has more traditional elective classes in its place. To what extent this decision was driven by the new principal or the old guard is unclear but a new system of elective classes was voted into place in the fall of 2016 that completely replaced the explorations program. The school still has full enrollment as well as a lottery for any potential new students. It was and still is a high-achieving school getting a score of 8 out of 10 from GreatSchools.org. Of course with 80% of students not needing free and reduced lunch it should come as no surprise that the affluence school population does well on standardized tests.
The Fund for the Public Interest
Status in June 2015: When I left the Fund in Sacramento, it was due largely to the realization that I would have no opportunity to grow in the position I was in. During my nine months working for the organization, the three-person management team remained in tact and for the most part our office had about as good a retention rate as you could have for a telephone fundraising office. We had a handful of staff members who had been on staff for six months, including my eventual replacement who had been on staff for nearly three years. At the time I left, the lead director had been in her position for nearly two years and the other assistant director had been in her position for nearly seven years, after having first been a caller herself. Of the core group of staff in the three telephone outreach offices in Sacramento, Portland, and Boston, I was the first one to leave although one other was scheduled to leave in the fall as she was an assistant director in the Boston office and had been accepted into a master's program. Seeing as how things ended abruptly, I chose to cut off contact with both my fellow directors and kept abreast of the organization solely through the new assistant director, who, as I mentioned, had previously been a caller.
Status is April, 2016: I came to find out that both the lead and assistant director resigned in September of 2015. I'm afraid I don't know the reason and neither does the other assistant director, whom I still communicate with. The Fund ended up bringing on a new lead director as well as a new assistant director as well. I don't know much about the callers and whether or not the core group are still around. With the other offices, I know that one of the assistant directors in Portland is now working in Boston, meaning she was replaced in the Portland office. This seems to be common place with the constant turnover and multiple reviews I have read regarding the organization seem to echo my sentiments: that the organization cared more about fundraising than it did about the people. I still have a few Facebook friends from my weekend in Pismo Beach with the younger staff. Most of them seem to still be involved in fundraising although one of them is now doing installation for a solar company rather than running a campaign office. The older ones with families are still involved with the organization as they have reached a point where they have progressed beyond fundraising roles and are doing more organizational work rather than simply raising money.
Conclusion
Being a self-described wandering millennial, I have put myself in challenging situations and as you can see many of these situations got worse, and not better, after I left. Many of the problems I encountered are still prevalent including such issues as challenging environments, patronage systems, poor leadership, in-fighting among employees, and no growth opportunities. Being well aware of the kind of options out there, I always resolved to remove myself from any situation where I didn't feel fully supported or appreciated. I feel it speaks volumes that most people I have worked with no longer work at those places with the exception of Health Sciences (patronage system) and Steele Canyon (teacher tenure). Although there is a part of me that is convinced I need to "get my s*it together" and find a career, I realize that my career paths this far have made that a challenge. In putting yourself out there and working for social justice issues, the hours will be long, the pay will be low, and you will be at the mercy of your employer who theoretically should be fighting for you on your behalf. When that last part is missing, you often have no choice but to look elsewhere as I have done. Based on how my old employers are doing now, I can say that I don't regret a decision I've made thus far. I can only hope that my future job, where I again place myself in a challenging environment, has a support system in place to help get me through the hard times.
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