There is something supremely wrong with the education system in America. Here's the deal: randomly, a job opened up at a local high school--it seems perfect, high school English, yearbook and journalism. It's at a good school and my awesome sister-in-law is a teacher there too. I get called in for an interview, things go really well and it seems like I might finally get a teaching job.

Wrong.

I get a call from the principal and there's good news and bad news. The good news is: they want to hire me. The bad news: they can't hire me. Why? Apparently, thanks to the good ol' State of Michigan a teacher needs to be certified in English AND Journalism in order to teach Journalism and/or Yearbook. I am only certified in English. Here's how popular the journalism certification is in Michigan, only TWO of the many, many universities and colleges in the state offer a program for journalism certification. I would bet money that not all of the teachers currently teaching journalism and/or yearbook as a class have a journalism certification. In fact, I know of at least one who doesn't have the "official" endorsement on her certificate and she's currently teaching journalism AND yearbook!

Oh yeah, it gets even better.

The principal seems like a nice guy and is still trying to figure out a way to hire me legally, so he calls the state and asks if they'll issue a temporary "emergency" journalism license. They say they won't because (get this) there is a surplus of ENGLISH teachers. Wait, I just thought you said I needed a journalism cert, not English, but you won't offer a temporary cert because there are too many English teachers??! Clearly there's a lack of journalism teachers, why are you even bringing English into this if you just said they were two separate things?? It's freaking retarded is what it is (and hats off to our idiot president who puts stupid, red-tape creating educational policies in place like No Child Left Behind. I can tell you that it sure as hell won't make much of a positive difference in our American educational system).

I can't quite believe this...I mean, the school now has to leave the position unfilled, in the middle of the school year, get a substitute in (who, in Michigan, does not need to have a teaching certificate at ALL, nor do they even need a bachelor's degree, just a certain number of college credits in ANY area) and apparently that is better (in the eyes of the State of Michigan) than having a full time, certified teacher, who, albeit, doesn't have a journalism cert but DOES have an English cert, three years experience teaching yearbook and two years experience writing for a daily newspaper. What is WRONG with this picture?

Basically, this means I need to go back to school and get a journalism certification if I ever want to be able to apply for a job that teaches journalism and/or yearbook. I don't mind going back to school, but it doesn't help me with the job problem right now. I'd need to complete 20 credits, so that isn't something that can be done overnight exactly. I feel so disillusioned about teaching right now, and though there's a part of me that really loves working with kids and knows that I'm a good teacher, there's a bigger part of me now that wants to just say to hell with it. Problem is, I have no experience doing anything else and one of the things I'd really like to do (write for a magazine, preferably a music magazine) would require picking up and moving to New York City IF I could even get a job (back to the no experience thing).

God, this sucks. I was SO freaking close to getting a job and I can't have it even though the school wants to hire me. No wonder people don't want to become teachers or don't want to stay teachers. Don't even get me started on this Teach for America bullshit. There was an article in the NY Times about how great it is that all these Ivy League kids are going and joining TFA, and how wonderful that they aren't at the "bottom of the barrel" like all the teachers we currently have, blah blah blah. That article made me SO FREAKING MAD I could hardly see straight. TFA teachers DON'T have state certification! Why do they get jobs and I can't freaking find one even though I've got not one, but TWO BA's, a MA AND a State of Michigan teaching certificate?? And I was definitely not at the bottom of my class! I graduated with class and university honors! This is bullshit. I know I should keep trying for the kids, but it's getting harder and harder to see the point in even continuing to try.

Unhappily,
Sasha