How close is retirement?
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Not that close. I am 51. I still have a lot of life left. Possibly more now if the stress is much less.

Plan:
If I am lucky-5.
If I can stand it-10.
If I have too-15
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I wasn't sure how old you were.

You've definitely still got some labor time! Less stress is important for current satisfaction and long term health. I hope it's a better situation for you.
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I am a member of a weather forum. When I said I was moving schools-A man from near St. Cloud said he would donate a slightly used weather station to me. It retails about 900 bucks. Very nice man and his wife. Had a great conversation. I will be deploying it soon and getting a website up also. Things are looking up.


Although-I had the music cranked in my room Friday. Running with the Devil came on. I knocked over my pop. Private Catholic School. Kharma.

This is the first time in a while I am really excited to start school.
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My sister just retired last year at 55 as a middle school teacher in NJ and the first thing she and her husband did were to buy a house in another state that doesn't tax pensions! :-)

She hated the last 5-6 years of teaching. She put in 32 years.

Hope you make it out sooner rather than later......:-)
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Thought I would drop an update.

I am under continuing contract with my last school. They decided to play hardball and not release me from my contract.

My old school (union contract-state funded) informed me they expected me to be online with students Tuesday morning. They did tell me I did not have to do advisory, but was expected to be in front of my classes (virtually).
I told them I was willing to post lessons online but would not be able to be the teacher in charge of the class and kids if issues were happening.

Of course I said I had a new job and was expected to be there IN PERSON starting Tuesday.

I informed my new school of what was happening. They want me there. Told me THEY would help the old school find someone. (who does that?)

I contacted my neighbor-an Education Minnesota lawyer. He said-hang the old school out to dry. The worst they can do is put a hold on my license until a replacement is found. And with the mess with CV19, he is swamped with many other issues. Mine is minor since I gave my resignation. Private schools are not required to have licensed teachers.

Told me to notify old school that I will not be reporting to work at all. So I do not know what will happen in old school on Tuesday-but it is not my problem now. I have not heard from old school yet.

this should be fun.
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Best of luck, Displaced. These are wild times, but it sounds like your lawyer has a good read on the situation and private schools not needing licensed instructors gives you the leverage here.
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Wow. I don't know how it is in Minnesota but I know in Missouri they can come after your license and money. They can charge a flat fee or charge you for cost of a substitute everyday they have to hire one to fill your spot and I think they can also go after the perceived cost of actively searching for a full time replacement. I've never known any of my local schools to do anything but charge a flat fee though.
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If I do not ask for time off in my old school, the worst they can do is put a hold on my license.

I will not check in, I will not ask for PTO. That way they cannot ask for money back or sue me for money.

The neighbor knows what he is doing. He represents the teachers and union I am leaving.

BTW-no word from my district union rep. I also cut off all emails from my old school. So if they want to contact me-they will have to call.
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If I have to appeal the licensing board, I can tell them the reasons I left and why I will not report.

High Blood Pressure, anxiety, PTSD, lack of support, being threatened hourly and getting hit by a 7th grade girl.

I will be fine. BP only slightly elevated today. But I am running around.
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My old principal has not communicated with me since May/June. I asked her for a recc and she said it was done 3 times. Never got it emailed to me.

BTW-both AP's have science backgrounds. They can monitor or teach the classes.
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You've just had limited exposure to homeschooling, I can assure you that.

We homeschooled, my oldest daughter graduated top of her class, several full ride offers, all while she worked full time, paid off a brand new car with no help from mom and dad.

She did volunteer work and still found time for friends - she had more people at her graduation than almost all of her pub school friends.

The stereotype you harbor of homeschooling is very, well "1990". It's MUCH more common now - in fact, areligious homeschooling (which is what we did) outnumbers religious homeschooling in many areas of the country.

Our homeschooling group here wields enough power that we openly draw attacks from the school district. We're cutting into their funding. We've essentially built a social network that completely replaces classroom interaction, while giving kids a higher quality education in 1/3 the amount of time.
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Ty is right. You're making an assumption that public school today is much like it was 30, 20, or even 10 years ago.

When I was in school, we got 50 minutes for lunch in elementary. My youngest daughter, as a 3rd grader, got TEN. They weren't allowed to talk. The entire lunch room was silent, you could hear a pin drop. If they got caught talking, they docked recess time.

And they went from 3 recesses, 15 minutes each, to two, each 7 minutes.

There's very little real social interaction going on in school anymore until the kids get much older, which is incidentally when things like study hall and open campus gets introduced and kids get to actually make decisions for themselves. Until that point, they're pretty much herded like lab rats.
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On my end of things, I don’t intend to speak for Lew, but it takes the right person and probably the right kids to homeschool. It isn’t for everyone and it probably isn’t for the people that are going to pull their kids because of a mask.

Take the right person and the right kids in the right situation and homeschooling can definitely outperform a public school. But that’s not necessarily a given.

JMO.
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For sure.

However, the number of parents able to pull it off is growing. Most of our schools around here have completely abandoned anything that develops academics beyond the "average". There's a lot of really smart kids out there and more and more of them are seeking online learning, early college, and homeschooling because the public schools are too busy teaching "up" to the median.

That's why our local district is so adamant that homeschooling is terrible for kids. Because we're not just taking their students, we're taking their BEST students.
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