My Job is Illegal?
Tuesday, May 15, 2007 at 
11:33 am ()
I learned some interesting things today.
A lot of you already know about my teaching internship fiasco during the 2005 – 2006 school year. I was teaching in Lexington, had no support from the principal, teachers, or my mentor. In short, they failed me. I filed an appeal, and the Educational Professional Standards Board did not overturn the decision of my KTIP committee. So – I still failed. (I still haven’t gotten my portfolios back from Frankfort, but that is another story.)
I’m currently the computer lab “teacher” at a local school. I love my job. Back in December, I began to wonder if there was a way I could just become certified in technology and complete an internship with my computer lab position. I’m not technically a “teacher.” I am hired as an assistant even though I am the only person in the lab.
I finally got in touch with a different person last week. He called me at work today. He couldn’t answer most of my questions because he specializes in the vocational aspect of technology, but he gave me the name of a very high-up person to get in touch with. He did enlighten me on a few things though.
It is illegal for a classified (assistant) employee to be in charge of a classroom of students.
Okay, so my whole district hires assistants to run the computer lab. This is not legal apparently. So, now that I have made the EPSB aware of this…. I don’t know what will happen. Maybe nothing. I spoke to my school’s curriculum specialist and he also said it was illegal and that our district is the only one he has ever seen hire assistants to do the computer lab and that also, sometimes if a teacher is sick, the assistant will cover the class instead of calling a substitute teacher. He said that the district could actually lose funding if this is found out and made into a big issue. Everyone agrees that computer lab teachers should be certified and paid more money. Everyone at my school knows I love my job, and that I’m really good at what I do. Everyone hopes that someday things will change and the computer lab will be made into a certified position.
So… I may have gotten the whole district in trouble? I really don’t know. I didn’t have enough free time to call and speak to the person I was referred to, but I did send him a rather lengthy email. I’m slightly freaked out. What if my district loses funding because of me? I doubt it will come to that, but who knows. It’s cheaper for the district to hire assistants instead of certified teachers. If the district was made to hire certified teachers for the lab, all of the current computer lab “teachers” would lose their jobs (except me and maybe one other person).
Hopefully, the man I emailed will reply to me soon. I’m interested to find out what he has to say about all of this. I hope I haven’t dug a nasty hole for myself.
Knowing that what I’m doing is illegal is a little unsettling…
UPDATE: So yes, as it turns out, it is most definitely illegal. I spoke to the man on the phone, and he answered some of my questions and did clarify that I’m not technically supposed to be “alone” with the students and that a teacher should be in “proximity.” He said he has to investigate the situation and will be calling someone at the board office. So, I kind of freaked out. I went to the principal and explained it her her. She, of course, was very understanding and has gone through a similar situation recently. She and I made a call to the assistant superintendent and tried to explain what happened. The assistant super. was kind of a bit…rude? She said it probably won’t be a big deal but that I should have gone to the board office instead of going to the state with my questions. (The board office can’t tell me jack about my KTIP 
, I don’t think we made that very clear to her.) So the principal gave me a hug and told me not to worry, that I didn’t do anything wrong. I actually called my mom before speaking to the principal because I wasn’t sure what I should do. I’ll probably write out a big rant about this and related issues sometime soon. Maybe I’ll install that plugin Jessica has so that only registered users can view and comment on it. :p
13 comments
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Filed in: Education, Work ()
13 Comments so far
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Jenn scribbled this note on May 15th, 2007: [ Quote ]
Hmm..well it does appear to be quite a hole lol, but look at it this way, if the district realizes that it’s illegal to have “assistants” teach classes then that means, they have to classify the current “assistants” as “teachers” which means that you make more money. Which means that if they keep YOU for the next year doing the same thing that you’ve been doing then you get everything you’ve been looking for in a job that you already had so I wouldn’t feel all that bad about it! Hmm, maybe they will even have to pay you the difference in wages from past years too
CHA CHING! 
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Oooh hun I dunno what to tell you except things will go how they are supposed to. Esp in a situation where they are in the wrong, but could so easily make it to be your fault to some degree. I hope it all works out though. *HUGS*
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Jenn: Well, I already signed a contract for next year, so they can’t get rid of me. My principal loves me anyway and would do whatever to keep me. And IF the district ever decided to hire “real” teachers for the computer lab, the current people in those positions would either A. lose their jobs, or B. have to go back to school and get their degree in education because they don’t have it already.
Jessica: I’m worried that they will throw it back on me and say it’s my fault, even though I’m not the one who is lying about things. I’m not making them do anything illegal. They’ve done it for years apparently.
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they were bound to find out sooner or later don’t blame it on yourself. and who cares that you went to the state office, if you would have went to the board office then this illegal stuff could be going on for decades to come! the asst. superintendent just doesn’t want to be the one getting the blame for not doing anything to correct the problem sooner. >.
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Well at least your principal was understanding and that is what matters the most right? I hope you guys can get everything cleared up smoothly hun.
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No matter what, as you seem to know from what you have said, you hold the moral high ground. Stick with your principal and inform her of any further contact.
Luv
Lan -
That is so aggravating. I hope you can get everything cleared up soon.
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Oh my I am glad your principal was understanding
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If you didn’t say anything to the principal then they’d never know it was you.
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Wow, what a bad situation. I think you did the right choice though and it’s great that the principal understood aswell.
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I hope eveything turns out okay
Goodluck! -
Hide post works better. It is at http://nguyenthanhcong.com/2007/03/27/hidepost-plugin-for-wordpress/ The otherone I had was actually confusing as it doesn’t have the same levels as the new wp… This way on this plugin, you put a code around only the part you want hidden, not the whole post.
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Aww…I hope things get better for you with this. Blah.
Your principal sounds nice, that’s good at least! And if you make some of your entries private, I willz register so I can stalkz you more!
You know…I bet I am within 20 miles of wherever you are right now…ooOOOooooo!
*stalkz!*
itsmelan scribbled this note on May 16th, 2007: 
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