Pink Slips

I LOVE the color pink! I like to wear it, look at it, and everything in between. Pink is the color of hope for breast cancer patients. It is the color of welcoming newborn baby girls into the world. It is the color of blush that brightens our faces. Today we used pink in another arena to generate hope and awareness among thousands of districts across the state. Many of you may have heard it on the news that everyone was encouraged to wear pink and participate in walks to show support to our schools and professionals. We are all facing massive budget cuts and it is affecting not only staff but also our children! Larger class sizes, etc. etc. etc. The reason the color pink was chosen is that today was the last day to give teachers pink slips to let them know they may not be returning next year. It is likely that many, if not most of them will not be re-hired. This leaves tons of people out of work and other budget cuts across the board. While I am sickened by what I see going on around me and while I hurt inside for those who lost their jobs and the other things the budget cuts have caused I have a huge appreciation inside and thankfulness that I have a job and a good one at that. Not a day has gone by in the past almost two years that I have not been grateful for how very lucky I am. I almost feel OCD about being so thankful for it. The whole thing just seems like a miracle to me. All the odds of landing such a perfect job were against me. My credential and Master's degree is in a field that they typically want you to be dually certified with a second master's and credential. Jobs with children in the school system with only my one specialization are quite difficult to come by. On top of it this job is in great commuting distance. What are the chances? I was also in the right place at the right time. If I had graduated even a semester before or after I would not have gotten this job. Also the only reason they considered a straight O&M person is that they had a straight VI person lined up so we balance each other out each just having one certification. Again, what are the chances? This co-worker is now getting let-go as she didn't work out (I will leave out details but I am so very happy she was hired for a short time as it let me get the job. The next thing is that if I got hired this year instead of last year I would have been let go because all temporary employees are gone. I will get tenure just in time. I was at a conference all day today and saw a lot of old friends/colleagues in the field and it always makes me think about how good I have it. Oh plus teachers in my district have higher salaries than almost all other districts that have departments of the visually impaired. So despite the fact that I will get a 4 percent decrease to an already unlivable salary I am so very thankful that I have a job. Thank you to everyone that wore pink today in support of educators and our children!