Teaching with Tim

At the beginning of this month, I became one of the 8,500+ Los Angeles teachers who received a pink slip from the district.  LAUSD is facing massive budget cuts next year, and they basically just went through their list of employees and sent a pink slip to the 8,500 who were most recently hired.  11 other teachers at my school got one.  My administrators have made it clear that they do not want to see me go, but there’s not a lot they can do–in fact, their own jobs are on the line as well.  There is a pervasive feeling of uncertainty and dread about how L.A. schools will be funded next year, and it seems like everyone is looking for letters of rec. and revising resumes.  Next year, it looks like I will be teaching English in Nagoya, Japan–an exciting new adventure (I’m working a new blog title–Gringo goes to Japan?).  I’ve started taking elementary Japanese at UCLA.  At the same time, I’m trying to make the most of my last few months here at Southeast.  The kids and teaching continue to be great.  One of my 8th graders somehow heard that I had gotten a pink slip, and she sent me this message, which I found really touching.  She’s been collecting signatures around school protesting the situation.  What else?  I just started a class website, which has been fun to play around with.  It will be hard to leave Southeast. This job has been an incredibly powerful and rewarding life experience, and it’s not one that I feel entirely ready to leave behind.