Jobs

Because of the serious education budget issues in the state of Oklahoma, there was an extreme risk that many of the teachers at our elementary would lose their jobs to more seniored teachers in the district. That risk included the two kindergarten teachers. Although Eli is going to 1st Grade, Brynne will be starting kindergarten. I was very worried for our teachers because they are so excellent and love being kindergarten teachers! My fear was that they would take these two teachers who love kindergarteners and replace them with other teachers who didn't have a passion for teaching small children.

This was especially troublesome for me because Eli was a special needs student who desperately needed a teacher who loved the struggles of kindergarten students. Would a teacher who loved teaching 5th graders care as much?

Brynne doesn't have any learning issues, but other students might. I can empathize with how fearful it would be to be the parent of a special needs child learning under those circumstances.

Our fears have been eliminated! I ran into Eli's kindergarten teacher the day before yesterday and they had just learned that none of the teachers will lose their jobs. Praise God! I loved volunteering for those teachers last year and I look forward to working for them again this year!!!

The other job news hits much closer to home.

We have been very worried that Rick's job was in jeopardy. Although the rumor was that there were going to be layoffs in his department but that his job was safe, we were still worried that higher ups knew more than they were saying and that the entire department was really in jeopardy.

We have been so back and forth about what we should do. Should we stay, should we look for other opportunities, should we try to stay in this area, should we move across the country, should we put our house on the market, what?

It's been a difficult time. We haven't wanted to do anything stupid ... move away or sit still.

We learned today that the higher ups have actually been short-timers, and have known it for quite some time, so they have not made any attempts to invest in Rick's department. Apparently these guys are leaving in the next couple of weeks, and someone else is stepping in to lead them. It's been said that no one in Rick's department will be layed off. Instead, we've been told that steps will be taken to build it to its potential.

Do we believe all of that? At this point I guess we have to. The hard part about working for a large company is that, as I'm sure you are aware, a rug can be pulled out from under you without a second's notice. We are just praying that what we've been told is all true and that the new leader of Rick's department will invest his time and efforts into it and help them grow it into what Rick hoped it would be when he started there four years ago. Things have not been good and he has been so discouraged and frustrated, and my prayer is that he gets the opportunity to be fulfilled in his job. Career satisfaction is extremely important to him.

In the meantime, status quo is being maintained.