Now that the winds have shifted, we'll all grab our umbrellas and float on over to our schools. It took the better part of a day to hurricane-proof our classrooms, but no matter! We'll just snap our fingers and the carpets will unroll, the books will fly into shelves--all by themselves in a matter of seconds. Or, at least, that is the illusion we're supposed to maintain.
In a letter explaining the decision to return to normal operations, the superintendent acknowledged that teachers would need time to reset their classrooms. But, he argued, it wouldn't be "feasible" to delay students' start time on Monday. Instead, our building administrators would "work with [us] directly and support [us]" in getting everything back in shape.
In other words, they'll open the building on Saturday. I happen to be on the email distribution list for two different schools. And while the two principals are essentially offering the same option to their respective staff, the tone they struck was very different. The first gave a window of time if teachers "want to come in" and put their rooms back together. She noted explicitly that this was completely optional and asked anyone unable to come on Saturday to let her know if they would like some help with the task.
The second principal also offered a window of time, but then explicitly asked that any staff member who was available on Saturday come and help put the building back together. In these principals' emails, I see two distinct attitudes toward the issue of teachers' unpaid overtime. The first says to me, you might want to come in and work for free on a Saturday, but you shouldn't have to, while the second implies, working for free on a Saturday is just a reality of teacher life and it's expected.
It'll take more than a spoonful of sugar for me to swallow that.
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