The Process Part II, The Fellow Strikes Back

OK, you hopefully read the first part of my saga. The interview process, etc. What they don't quite make clear though when you're getting into the system is that even though you have been accepted to the program and you are "guaranteed" a job, you don't REALLY have a job.

See my little "air-quotes" up there? Well there's a reason for them. The word "guarantee" means that they can 99.999% assure you that enough people will be fed up with the system and leave vacancies that you will be filling.

That means that there is no REAL position for you, but they know that turnover is so high, they don't think twice about hiring TWO THOUSAND TEACHERS the year that I enlisted. That number is simply staggering. And that's not counting the handful of teachers who were hired outright... meaning NOT as Fellows. As I said earlier... the school district I worked at in Maine had ONE English vacancy last year. And chances are there won't be another one for YEARS. My school hired ELEVEN new English teachers this year alone. Just astounding.

So when you become a Fellow, they "guarantee" you'll get a job. It's up to YOU however to find it. But they don't quite tell you how.

Oh, of course they have job fairs. The one job fair I went to was in mid-May of last year. A pointless effort I found out, because no schools could make any job offers, as current staff have until May 31 to decide if they want to transfer to another school. (I can hear dad now...)

The pre-service training begins and no joke, you're WAY too tired to go hoofing around the Bronx to look for a job. Not to mention if you also have to find an apartment, it makes it that much tougher. (I had to do both.)

The Bronx is divided up into two Regions - 1 and 2. I was hired for Region 1. And we were told, you ONLY look for jobs in your Region. ONLY LOOK FOR JOBS IN YOUR REGION. As the summer was coming to a close, I didn't have a job yet. The person in charge of the Fellows for the Bronx said there was a job fair at the school I'm working at now.

"But it's in Region 2. I am only allowed to look for jobs in Region 1," I dutifully told her.

"Who said that?" she asked.

"Well, everyone."

"NAH, that's not true. You can look anywhere you want in the city."

Once again. My father's voice echoes. The fact that we are told this is a HARD and FAST rule. ETCHED IN STONE! You can ONLY LOOK FOR A JOB IN YOUR REGION. Even my Fellow advisor was taken off guard by this obvious bending of the rule.

But I have to say, she was right. I went to the school, interviewed with several schools who were there, including MY SCHOOL'S Assistant Principal of English. He said he'll be making a decision in the very near future, but he liked me, so I had a good shot. I was excited. It was a high school, which is what I wanted all along - not a middle school, which some of my classmates went to work for. Not in a million years did I want to work in a middle school. Brrrr, I get shivers just thinking about it.

Later that day, I get a phone call. My A.P. says he would like me to come in for a second interview, with the PRINCIPAL no less. I agree and in a few days I'm heading back to the school for a second interview. When I get there, the principal is nowhere to be found, and my A.P. is running around like a madman. "What am I getting myself into," I think to myself.

When I finally get to meet with my A.P. he promptly begins the second interview - WITHOUT the principal to boot. Here is a transcript of that interview in its entirety. Enjoy.

"Do you want to work here?"

"Yes."

"OK, you're hired."

And there you have it. As dad would say... ("New York City...")

Now, to be fair, it's not as if he just hired anybody off the street... remember, Fellows are super-scrutinized even before they get in the door for an INTERVIEW, let alone before they are actually given a slot in the program, so he knew that whoever he hired, if he or she was a Fellow, they've been given the once over more than once.

When you're a Fellow, you sort of have a "green light." All the coach has to do is sign you on, because you're already been, as Mr. Guthrie would say, "injected, inspected, detected, infected, neglected and selected." All your principal or assistant principal has to do is sign the paper and BAM, you've got a job as a teacher.