Endlessly fucking pissed right now and on the verge of voluntarily blacklisting myself from an entire school.

Two years ago, I accepted a substitute teaching job labelled as “elementary education”. It was, in fact, a violent behavior isolation room, dubbed “E.S.P.” (unsure for what it stands). To summarize: I came out physically and mentally bruised and battered, never willing to take that job again.

A month or so ago, I went to that same school—at which I’m a frequent sub—for a third-grade position. When I arrived, the (vice?) principal pulled me aside and told me that they “figured it out”, and that the interventionist was covering that class: ergo, they said they’d be putting me in the E.S.P. room since there wasn’t coverage that day. I was on the verge of walking out, but I’ve been on a tight budget since my wife’s job loss and thus medical insurance loss in April led to high credit card debt. The highlight reel: I was once again assaulted in the groin, this time with two wooden chairs zip-tied to each other—which was *supposed* to prevent them from being used as a weapon.

Last night, I got a phone call from SmartFind, the automated absence-reporting and sub-finding system, telling me that my job today was cancelled. It just happens sometimes: appointments get rescheduled, teachers end up not being sick, et cetera. I got some more calls, but they were for days later in the month. Again, it happens: not every day I get a job.

This morning, I was confused as to why I wasn’t getting any calls. Usually, SmartFind starts calling as early as 4:30 A.M. for urgent, same-day sub jobs, but… I didn’t get any at all. I checked the online portal to make sure I didn’t accidentally mark myself as unavailable, or maybe accidentally block calls for twenty-four hours—and what do I find? A job for that E.S.P. room. I was confused, since I know I’d never knowingly accept that position.

I called the school and explained the situation, asking the secretary if they entered in that job manually. They did. I politely told them to cancel it—five minutes *after* I was supposed to be there—because of “the nature of the job”. I tried to hide it, but I was beyond livid. I had no job for today—$165, gone.

If the county office tries to penalize me for a no-show (or whatever they deem this), I’m fucking quitting and moving district. Job swaps like this are NOT in my contract.

#teaching #substituteteaching #elementaryeducation #rant