Today is Pink Friday if you haven’t already guessed by some of my brief little snippets between my blog and my facebook.
My wife has taught in the public school system for a very long time. Many of her friends having been teaching even longer. My wife is in the process of listening to the Lord and trying to discern what’s next in her life. She’s even about to consider a new career. How does a teacher who has been teaching for over 15 years as a public school teacher all of sudden start over again? With the rising costs of state colleges and especially graduate level programs how does someone like my wife do this with kids, a mortgage, student loan payments, car payments, etc, etc, and some more etc. I know it’s not just education that is being hit. Everything is being hit.
Does she continue teaching? The problem is that there are no teaching jobs for a teacher with that much experience, if you really do the math and think about the massive budget cuts not only happening in California, but across the nation. My wife and some of her colleagues are the ones with high salaries because of their education and experience. Friends have said, “but the stimulus package will help.” If its supposed to help, why is Los Angeles Unified Schools about to cut something like 5500 teachers?
Please pray for my wife. Our kids. Kids all over California. Teachers all over California who are considering other careers and who will be living off unemployment possibly like us. Our state colleges and universities. And yes administrators we will pray for you too, it’s not your fault. Although my kids high school doesn’t need something like four vice principals and a principal as school districts are cutting teachers left and right. Something’s not right with that either.
I’d be lying to you if I told you I am fine. I am not fine. It stinks that our kids, our teachers, and our colleges and universities have to go through this. I have no answers. The only answer I have is something we talked about at a Bible Study I led last night. I love Peterson’s paraphrase of Isaiah 40:27-31.
I also point you to a person who gets it.
For close to 15 years my wife has worked in public education. She’s taught in public schools both here in California and in New Jersey. She’s an awesome elementary school teacher and God has blessed her with a tremendous amount of gifts when it comes to teaching. Both parents and children have been impacted by her teaching. I’ve witnessed first hand her teaching abilities in the classroom.
Over the last several months one of the hot topics in California has been public education and the budget cuts that have and will take place all over the state. We’ve seen this before and have heard about the cuts over the years. She’s always been safe from any district budget cuts until this year of course. My wife and at least 58 other teachers in her district have been issued pink slips. I know there are other districts that are also issuing pink slips.
You never think about the possibility of loosing your job until it happens to you. I think that’s what’s exhausting. It becomes real when your one of the ones facing the possibility of unemployment for whatever reasons. What’s even harder not only for my wife, but for others, is that there are some really good teachers who care about the promises they made to themselves and to the kids and parents they serve every day that when they come to work that they are more than just prepared to teach; that they’re ready to make a difference in a child’s life.
When we relocated back to So. Cal we very much trusted that God would provide for our family. Even before we made the move back my wife was hired by the school district she currently teaches in. This is how we knew that we possibly were making the right decision to come back home. God has always been at the helm of any transition we’ve been part of over the years. Every move we’ve made my wife has been blessed with a teaching position or other employment. This is how I know that she’s more than just a gifted teacher. This is also why we aren’t stressing yet. Although tempting.
Faith is more than our bandage right now. It’s our strength. It’s always been our strength. And with the given events in the other parts of the world like Myanmar and the loss and suffering that others are enduring in our own country in the mid-west, because of weather it puts things in perspective. It keeps me from making this post all about the issues and politics at hand especially when it comes to public education right now. It keeps me from thinking of the worst case scenarios for myself in my current call as a pastor and for my family.
My prayer for those who teach and who’ve been affected by the state wide budget cuts is that you will find the strength and hope needed that God will provide for you as God has provided always for my wife and family. My prayer is also that those who’ve been called to make the tough decisions will listen to God and will take into account all of the scenarios not only for those who are good at what they do as teachers who will eventually find new employment, but the kids and parents who were looking forward and hoping to have the best of the best teachers who do more than just teach. Parents and kids who were looking forward to the blessing of being blessed by teachers who care about making a difference in a child’s life.
