I quit my job - just a vent and very long

[Dutchie]

I have told my boss that when I have given my last lesson (I teach English at Elementary school) on Dec. 15th, I want no more assignmenmts till after Spring break.
I am a little torn in this because the one thing that I will miss is the contact with the kids and the 2 schools where I am teaching at the moment are WONDERFUL. One is an inner city school and the other is in a quite 'well-to-do' area. The contrasts are enormous.

Anyhow here is the story.
I started teaching at the beginning of last school year (August 2008). I work for an agency which is part of the local school district and the main objective is to promote English in elementary schools (this is the only agency of it's type to do this in this area).
I am hired in by the schools for a period of around 6 weeks - usually it is between the vacations.
Say I start after Christmas break, then it is until Spring break. The schools can choose to stop after these +/- 6 weeks or continue either with me or another teacher.
Then the choice is mine.
Do I want to stop at this school and go onto another one or stay on? Without wanting to blow my own trumpet I have ALWAYS been asked to stay on.

When I first started in Aug. 2008 I had THE most wonderful boss. She was considerate, caring, well organized and we got on like a house on fire. She was the ideal boss.
My boss wanted to go back to teaching so I got a new boss.

She is one of the main reasons that I want to quit.
My old boss showed me what she had written down about me for the new lady, plus what the agreements were regarding payments and when I was on vacation in the summer and where I was (New York) so that I wouldn't be bothered because of the time difference just in case the new lady wanted to call.

The first time that I thought that things were definitely different was when she called during my vacation AT 4 AM NY time. She had 'missed the note about where I was on vacation'.
In the first weeks back at school there were various things happening in the family which were really sapping my energy (fil, huge battles between oldest son and dh/myself and second son). So I said to my boss that for the second 'round' of schools I only wanted to teach 2 afternoons per week instead of the 4 that I was doing. Fine she said - not a problem.
A couple of times EVERY SINGLE WEEK she called and asked if I would do substitute work for the other 2 afternoons. Each time I said 'no I really can't handle it'.

Then when I had sent in my parking receipts to be paid by them as agreed upon in my contract (various schools where I teach are in paid parking areas) she called and asked what I was doing.
I explained as nicely as I could that this was in my contract and they had always been paid before.
She went all uppity and said that these costs were included in my salary (I don't earn much and paying for parking would put me below minimum).
I explained that she should look at my contract again. I also said that if it was a problem then I wouldn't be teaching at schools where there is paid parking anymore since there is no way that I will be financing this myself.
I sent the receipts in on Oct. 16th and they have still not been paid.
I have called about it various times but each time the receipts are 'being discussed'.

In between times, there was also an occasion that a mistake had been made in my salary. I called about it and she said that I could declare extra hours in my next declaration. I asked her to put it in writing (email) which she did - thank goodness.
After sending in my next declaration with the extra hours she called and asked why I had declared the extra. I had to remind her about the email which she had sent.

To be quite honest I had had enough (I have to admit that the family situation wasn't helping any at all) so I called her and said that after Christmas and at least till Spring break, I wasn't going to be teaching. She said OK (what else can she say since I work on a freelance basis).

The very next day she emailed and asked if I would start teaching at a school right after the Christmas break. I still haven't answered the mail.

Just for info we will not really miss the income since I figure that I can save the same amount of money by being much more frugal around the house/cooking/grocery shopping etc. and - as I said - I don't make much money anyway.
I worked it out. I have to prepare the lessons, copy them (costs are incl. in my salary), drive to the schools (wear and tear on car plus gas) and do the actual lessons.
When taking it all into consideration I make around $5 per hour for 6 hours per week. (Just for info, I discovered by accident how much they charge the schools for me per hour - $160.)

OK vent over!! Thank you for listening/reading.

[Didi]

Well Dutchie, I can totally see your point. Is the new boss paying any attention at all?

What an enormous difference between the hourly rate they ask and the money you get. Is there a way to do this kind of teaching while circumventing the organisation?

[geckoace]

Maybe u could sign up to be a substitute teacher with your local schooldistrict then at least u still get to be around the kids

[Dutchie]

Well Dutchie, I can totally see your point. Is the new boss paying any attention at all?

What an enormous difference between the hourly rate they ask and the money you get. Is there a way to do this kind of teaching while circumventing the organisation?

That is my way of thinking too.

I hope to speak to one of the head teachers tomorrow since I know that this school wants to keep me too but they also have a problem with paying so much.
I want to see if I can work for them without going through this agency.
However it may mean that I have to register with the 'Belastingdienst' as a freelancer and from what I have heard it is a HUGE hassle.
But in any case I will talk with her tomorrow and see what is possible.
Thanks.

[danni]

It would be great if you could stay with the school. Hopefully they will be able to figure something out.

[madhen]

It sounds like your new boss is a bit overwhelmed in her new job and is dropping the organizational ball big time. Hopefully, she'll either get her act together or they'll replace her with someone more competent. Good for you for standing your ground. If the money isn't critical for survival, it sounds like it isn't worth the hassle.

[shoiji]

You really do need to know when to say no. Which you do. Hopefully you can work something out with the school you are currently with. Your boss sounds overwhelmed, and possibly there are problems within the organization besides financially.

[Imarachne]

Is there anyone else at school in authority that you could talk to about it ?

[Sassyclass]

Sorry to hear this but then again with all you've dealt with lately, maybe time to yourself is the best thing to have. BTW, offer to teach your new boss English, it sounds like she can't read it or understand it. Don't forget to charge her for parking.

Cat

[Dutchie]

Sorry to hear this but then again with all you've dealt with lately, maybe time to yourself is the best thing to have. BTW, offer to teach your new boss English, it sounds like she can't read it or understand it. Don't forget to charge her for parking.

Cat

Once again Cat, you have hit the nail on the head.

I will be talking with the school head (inner city school) this afternoon but I will be starting again after Spring break if they want me without going through this agency.
I really do need the break myself since there has been so much going on.

If I do have to go through the IRS to register as a freelancer (or something like that) then I will need the time to do it anyway.

My new boss doesn't actually speak English very well (my old one didn't either). Our correspondence is all in Dutch.
I teach English as a second language to kids from ages 4 to 12 in Dutch schools.
Our government is very keen that kids speak 2 languages from a young age.