jvlgato Posted March 10, 2011 Report Posted March 10, 2011 Damn, Al. Sorry to hear that. I'm hearing all sorts of stories about teachers here in Chicagoland, apparently the worst market for teachers in decades, maybe ever. We have a friend who wasn't happy being a lawyer (apparently loved studying law, but not so much the practice of it), so with great trepidation, she finally decided to go back to school. She retrained to be a grade school teacher, became very happy and certain of her decision, and when she graduated last summer ... no jobs. She was told by her student teaching position that they loved her and wanted her there, but there literally are no openings. She's grateful that she has a solid job that she doesn't hate as a lawyer, but she really felt she'd have been more fulfilled as a grade school teacher, so she's been biding her time waiting for openings, but it hasn't happened yet.
Voltron Posted March 10, 2011 Report Posted March 10, 2011 That sucks Al. Best of luck to you and your wife. My wife is a PhD and former professor who never got on the tenure track in academia because I already had a job in SF and a California bar card, and we weren't willing to move to whatever schools had openings anywhere in the country. Although the PhD programs were touting that the retirement of GI Bill profs was going to cause a new wave of openings to arrive, the reality was that schools simply filled slots with part-time, one-year, non-tenure people. She decided to raise our kids instead of fucking around with the short-term jobs, etc. Eventually, she went back to school part time to get her teaching credential and now teaches high school. Once again, however, she is being subjected to the fucked up state of education because she cannot get a proper, full-time, tenure-track position and has been laid off a couple of times only to be re-hired with worse terms. The school loves her and wants her to stay so they keep figuring out ways to make it happen, but it is demoralizing on some level and simply ludicrous from a professional standpoint. If we needed her income to survive, then she would have to do something else and another great teacher would be lost.
Beefy Posted March 10, 2011 Report Posted March 10, 2011 My wife is a PhD and former professor who never got on the tenure track in academia because I already had a job in SF and a California bar card, and we weren't willing to move to whatever schools had openings anywhere in the country. Although the PhD programs were touting that the retirement of GI Bill profs was going to cause a new wave of openings to arrive, the reality was that schools simply filled slots with part-time, one-year, non-tenure people. Indeed. The reality I am currently looking at is that just one in four postdoctoral fellows will end up with a tenure track position. So I currently have little choice but to find three other postdocs and kill them. Or work harder, but that's just crazy talk.
Beefy Posted March 10, 2011 Report Posted March 10, 2011 Or get your plumbing license Ten years ago as a bright eyed PhD student I would have laughed at the idea. Now, its definitely a smart option; there is such a fine line between dealing with literal shit and metaphorical shit.
jinp6301 Posted March 10, 2011 Report Posted March 10, 2011 Indeed. The reality I am currently looking at is that just one in four postdoctoral fellows will end up with a tenure track position. So I currently have little choice but to find three other postdocs and kill them. Or work harder, but that's just crazy talk. http://blog.devicerandom.org/2011/02/18/getting-a-life/
manaox2 Posted March 10, 2011 Report Posted March 10, 2011 I have had several teachers steal credit for projects that I did most of the work on for my school and students and later use that to step up to new careers. I have a feeling this happens a lot in many careers.
n_maher Posted March 10, 2011 Report Posted March 10, 2011 I had what I hope will be the saddest day for a long, long time. Today I attended the wake for Zachary, the little boy that I raffled the Ventus amp for last fall. He had a relapse of leukemia symptoms 3 weeks ago and died last Sunday as a result of complications from the disease. He was only 6 and had battled with leukemia for 4 years through his initial diagnosis, remission, relapse, a bone marrow transplant, remission again only to relapse again. There is something so painful and indescribably sad about things like this that words can never capture and as the father of a young child I simply can't imagine it.
Aimless1 Posted March 10, 2011 Report Posted March 10, 2011 Always saddest when the little ones leave us. Sorry to hear that Nate. Must have been quite the fighter to persevere like he did.
Aura Posted March 10, 2011 Report Posted March 10, 2011 Sorry Al and Nate, two very different kinds of bad news .
Beefy Posted March 10, 2011 Report Posted March 10, 2011 Shit eh? That's awful. My crappy career doesn't seem so bad anymore
Pars Posted March 10, 2011 Report Posted March 10, 2011 Yes. Sorry to hear that Nate. It really effects me (and I'm sure most people) when little kids die. One of my co-workers had a son who passed away when he was 3 from liver cancer that he had had since he was born. Choked me up, and still does a bit to this day when I think about it.
The Monkey Posted March 10, 2011 Report Posted March 10, 2011 Sorry to hear that, Nate. I can't even begin to imagine.
guzziguy Posted March 10, 2011 Report Posted March 10, 2011 Sorry to hear this. Godspeed Zachary. My condolences to you, Nate, and Zachary's family.
morphsci Posted March 10, 2011 Author Report Posted March 10, 2011 Very sorry to hear about Zachary Nate. My condolences to his family.
mrarroyo Posted March 10, 2011 Report Posted March 10, 2011 Very sorry to hear of both issues, my heart goes out to Zachary's family and friends.
digger945 Posted March 11, 2011 Report Posted March 11, 2011 Al, sorry to hear about your wife. Todd and I were talking at the meet, about how messed up it has gotten for teachers lately. His wife is also a teacher, and it doesn't look good from any angle. The students are the ones who will ultimately pay the price. Nate. I don't know what to say. I remember you talking about surprising Kristopher with the raffle money over a cold brew. Like you, I cannot imagine.
Absorbine_Sr Posted March 11, 2011 Report Posted March 11, 2011 Nothing I can say Nate. My condolences to the family. Al, sorry to hear about your wife's employment situation. With what we are doing to teachers in this country these days, what kind of future generations can we expect?
grawk Posted March 11, 2011 Report Posted March 11, 2011 wow, that sucks. I can't imagine what they're going through.
skullguise Posted March 11, 2011 Report Posted March 11, 2011 Sad news all around, so sorry to hear of it all, especially the Zachary news. I can't imagine anything worse than losing a child.....my thoughts and best wishes are with the family. Not sure if it'd help, Nate, but if you think so please let the family know how much your raffle and his story touched us here.
Dreadhead Posted March 11, 2011 Report Posted March 11, 2011 Sorry to hear that Nate. As has been said I can't imagine what they are going through.
Driftwood Posted March 11, 2011 Report Posted March 11, 2011 To add to the sad news, my wife and I found out yesterday that her father shot and killed himself. No one knew he had a gun and he was the last person I would have guessed would do such a thing. my wife had talked to him on the phone just a short while before and he gave no indication that anything was amiss. He was talking about how nice the weather had been recently, etc. and then the next thing we know he was gone. I still can't wrap my mind around what happened. He was probably the least selfish person I have ever known, and I have never known anyone to care more about their family.
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