.83

Just call me Ms. 83%.

My period at the high school has been taken away for next year. Not enough kids signed up for drama, and with major budget cuts in the district there was no way to salvage it. I am, however, retaining my .83 at the middle school, which means I'll be technically working part time...well, as all part time teachers know, I'll be working full time and paid for part time!

I'm coming to grips with it. The loss of income is frustrating, and had me convinced that we needed to walk away from the new house. But we worked it out, and while things may be tight for a little while, it won't be awful by any means. I think we can still afford to go to a movie once a year ;-)

I'm actually kind of looking forward to it. Our district pays better than most districts, so even at .83 of a full salary I'll be making about what most full time teachers at my level make in other districts. It means that I will either be able to sleep in for 90 minutes more than before or leave school 90 minutes earlier, depending on what my schedule does.

The only difficult part is that this is a reminder that drama jobs are not stable. They are often the first to be cut when the budget needs to be tightened. Everyone says teaching jobs are secure, and they are - if you are a content teacher or in a legally mandated area like special ed (though those aren't even all that secure anymore). But we electives teachers hold our breath at the end of every year, unsure if we'll be brought back, and if so, how much we'll be working.