Would this happen in any other profession?

Two weeks ago I began my 8th year of teaching elementary school. In June, our last week of school I had to pack up my entire classroom and move to another classroom at my Principal's request. Although I wasn't pleased about this, I was given plenty of notice and took the time to carefully pack all of my teaching stuff that I had accumulated over the past 8 years. Approximately 30 boxes later, the entire room was packed up and all of the boxes were clearly labeled so that I could easily find my things when unpacking my classroom in August.


Fast forward to August 14th, the first official day back to work for teachers . . . I went to the school's office to get the key to my new room. The secretary didn't know what room I was going to be in. I told her that I had personally moved all of my things to room 23 on the last day of school. She informed me that the janitor had moved all of my stuff 3 more times over the summer (again at the Principal's request). At that moment the secretary didn't know where all of my 30+ boxes were, or which room they would be moved to. Oh, and did I mention that school would be starting in 3 days? There I was, a homeless teacher, anxious to start the school year. After wandering around the school looking in every single classroom I finally found all of my stuff in a small book room. Panic set in . . . was that going to be my classroom? Was I going to have to work in a closet all year? Luckily not! Later that day I was assigned a big, beautiful, giant classroom. I spent 2 full days unpacking, getting organized, and hanging up bulletin boards. School started, I began working with my students, and the week was over for me on Thursday. (I only work 4 days a week) On that first Friday (my day off) I received an email from my Principal saying that she had to move my classroom again and wanted to know if I was on campus so I could pack up my stuff . . . again. Well, she knows that I do NOT work on Fridays and haven't for over a year. I gave her my cell phone number and told her to please call me and let me know when I could come and repack all of my things to move AGAIN! She never called or replied to my email. Without my consent she had 4 people from maintenance pack up my entire room and move it for me! I was so completely stressed knowing that others were going through my stuff and packing it for me. I had a lot of personal items in my desk . . . things I might not want random maintenance men to see! Oh, and of course they didn't label the boxes or pack them in an organized manner.


I went into work on Monday to a total disaster! All my stuff was in a humongous pile in the center of the room. I immediately wanted to unpack and get organized, as looking at the giant mountain in the middle of the room was giving me a panic attack! As I began to unpack and settle into my new "home" for the year I discovered that EVERY cabinet, cupboard, drawer, shelf, etc. was full of someone else's crap. I emailed my principal to ask who's stuff it was and when they were going to come remove it so I could unpack. Well, she never replied to my email that day. I took it upon myself to remove everything from all the cabinets, throw the old stuff away (workbooks circa 1968), and cram everything I possibly could into 2 of the cabinets and piled the rest in a heap in the corner of the room and hid the crap with a pocket chart. Two days later I got the room all unpacked and organized. I set out my air freshener, placed my stuffed pink poodle on the rocking chair, took a step back, and admired my super cute, well organized classroom. Ahhh . . . home sweet home!


The next day I received an email from my principal telling me that all of the stuff that I found in the room belonged to the teacher that I was SHARING the room with! Oh my GOD . . . I felt horrible! I literally shoved all of her crap into the cabinets with no rhyme or reason. I let my Principal know what I did, but let her know that she neglected to tell me that I was sharing a classroom. Her reply was "If you have a problem sharing your room, you can move to another room." Seriously!?! Did she really think I would want to move again? Total insanity! What a great way to start off the school year!


So with all the packing and unpacking I have not been able to do my job. I have spent 4 out of 9 days packing and unpacking. Now I am over a week behind on assessing my students. Would this situation happen in any other profession? Probably not. This is just another example of how crazy the education system is in California. Because of the Principal's indecisiveness and demanding that I play "musical classrooms" for the first 2 weeks of school, I will not be able to start teaching my students until October!