We are STILL not amused (and now we're even more pissed off)

And still talking in the royal "we" apparently. *sigh*

Okay, so, first things first, apparently our health insurance is supposed to be reinstated today, tomorrow at the latest. We have still not been offered an explanation as to WHY it lapsed in the first place, but at least the problem is being resolved. And apparently our principal was utterly mortified that this had happened and very apologetic, etc, etc, etc.

But here's where we get to the 'pissed off' part of tonight's entertainment.

'Cause this is the second time this year that it's happened. The first time, only a couple people knew about it, and for whatever reason, didn't tell the rest of us. Spectacular, eh?

And now I can't help wondering if the mortification and embarrassment was because such a big ball was dropped or because this time the problem was common knowledge. I swear, the more I look at some of the practices at this school, the shadier they seem...which worries me. A lot.

For instance, we are required to clock in and clock out every day (which I have never done before in my career and I've been teaching for nearly a decade). This would not bother me so much, except I found out the other day that the reason we clock in and clock out is that they are going to deduct pay from us at the end of the year for any time that we clocked in late.

Which, given that teachers are salaried employees and not hourly is...well, it's pretty frickin' illegal.

Not to mention the fact that NO ONE TOLD US THIS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR.

Nor is there any mention of being paid overtime for the hours that we put in after our contracted hours. I quite regularly leave school half an hour to forty five minutes after my day officially ends...and that's not even counting all the work I put in at home. I'm a teacher...factor in grading, calling parents, lesson planning, etc, and I pull an eighty-odd hour work week, easy.

I sure as hell ain't getting PAID for an eighty-odd hour work week.

And here's the thing...I honestly wouldn't mind most of it (the whole pay deduction thing, yeah, sorry, it's in violation of federal law, can't argue with that). We're a small school, and sometimes you just gotta take one for the team. I am the woman who used to climb a rickety aluminum ladder to the roof of her first school every time it rained in order to drag tarps over the holes we had in the roof right over the library (we couldn't afford a new roof, didn't have a maintenance guy, and I lived right across the street from the building...I was on my principal's speed dial. And he let me write my own performance reviews in exchange :) ). No, what I don't appreciate is being kept in the dark about things, and this whole feeling of underhandedness.

That's not what teaching is about.

What's worse is, I'm not sure most of the staff realize how badly they're being screwed over. I hadn't realized this earlier, but with a couple of staff leaving in the past month, I'm now the only teacher at this school who has more than two years experience. I'm the only teacher who's taught in other states, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who's taught outside of charter schools. Which means that I might be the only one in position to actually blow the whistle on stuff like this.

Which could put me in a VERY bad position when I go looking for a new teaching job this year.

'Cause yeah, I love these kids...but I can't keep working in the conditions at this school. Not if they're going to lie to me, cheat me, and jeopardize one of the few decent benefits. Holy shit, I can't risk getting pregnant while I'm at a school where the health insurance fizzles off and on like a faulty light switch. Uh-uh, no way, not gonna happen.

But how smart is it to make waves that big when prospective employers are gonna be calling these guys for references? Some of the administration, I honestly don't know if I would put it past them to blacklist me as some kind of revenge (which would also be illegal as my performance reviews are fine...but yeah, in this economy, I'm not sure that's a fight I need to be starting).

I just...seriously, I know I joke about my life being a soap opera and all...but who has shit like this happen to them?!?!?!?!