A few months ago I was talking with my friend Sandy about my teaching here and how every year it seems like it’s one thing or another that puts my position at this school at risk. Low enrollment is usually the biggest reason. Each year our numbers seem to be decreasing. Even though we have lost two teachers, one per year, the last two years, we’ve not hired any new ones to fill their shoes. Yep, that’s how close it’s been for me. Every year I seem to really luck out and get to stay! My administrator really works hard to keep all of his teachers. He sees a potential in me and doesn’t want to lose me. I’m lucky to have him on my side.
It gets tougher every year, though, to go through the emotions that I feel when I end the year on, “Maggie, the numbers are low and there’s a risk that the district might pull a teacher.” Yep, it’s always potentially my job at stake because I have the lowest seniority. Darn it all.
Anyway, Sandy and I were talking a few months back, maybe even longer, and I mentioned to her that perhaps it was time for me to move on. I then mentioned that I hadn’t lived in the southern states yet, and she said, “Move here! Move here!” (Actually, I think it was when I was at her house in August when we first discussed this.) I looked up some teacher salaries, and unfortunately Tennessee does not pay their teachers well enough for me to move there. California is one of the better states as far as salaries go. To leave here, I would need to find something that was comparable. I can take a bit of a cut, but let’s face it, not much. I have accumulated more debt than I’d like to admit. My student loan payment takes a huge chunk out of my monthly paycheck. Huge! When that is paid off, I’ll be skipping around town just wondering what to do with the cash! Heh.
Ooops, I digressed.
I have since then begun thinking regularly on this. Should I, or shouldn’t I? I ponder the possibilities. When there were talks of things changing in the district because of the red in their budget. One of the options being thrown out there is to cut the class-size reduction policy, which would mean making class-size larger again. That, of course, would result in cutting teachers. In effect, I would be shuffled around the district. Yuck! I have made no secrets about the fact that if I was to be shuffled off to another school within the district, I would most likely leave. I’ve been here long enough to know that I am in the best school in the district.
I am happy where I am living. I am happy in my life. Sure I get lonely every now and again, and it’s frustrating to be in such an isolated area where I don’t come across very many single people my age. But I love my job. I love working with my colleagues. I’m happy.
Take away the school, administrator, and colleagues and it’s a formula for unhappiness, I think. I know myself. If I’m sent away from the place that I love, I’ll pine away at the new school and wish I were somewhere else. I would no longer be happy, and I’d be looking for another job. So why not head it off at the pass?
Well, I’ve been thinking about this. I haven’t talked to anyone at school about it because I’m just not going to discuss something that in all likeliness will not happen. The next thing that I had to decide, since I was thinking about it and all, was where. Where would I like to live? I really do like the idea of moving eastward. I’m getting a bit weary of the traveling between California and Wisconsin, but I’m not ready to return to Wisconsin yet. Eastward is good, but not homeward, so to speak.
I liked the idea of Tennessee because I would be moving near someone that I know and love—Sandy. After doing research, though, I realized that Tennessee was not going to be “it”. As I mentioned before, I’d be taking a huge pay cut to work there (unless I found a position at some school that paid well above the state average). I liked the idea of moving to the South. I’ve lived on the East Coast. I’ve lived on the West Coast. I’ve lived in the Midwest. I’ve never lived in the South. Finding a southern state that wouldn’t hurt my pocketbook too horribly was pretty hard. I did find one that didn’t seem too horrendous, though! Georgia. What a lovely state it is and the state average isn’t too horrible. They are the 16th highest paying state. California is higher, but no matter where I go, I’ll most likely be taking a cut.
Well, that’s what I’m thinking about now. Georgia. Sweet Georgia. The South is a good place for me to go. Sure, it’s more humid there in the summer than where I am now, but the winters are still not as cold as Wisconsin’s!
Hmmm . . . food for thought.
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