Maybe I shouldn't post right now since I'm so fed up with this process! But allow me a bit of a rant to make me feel better... DH can forget about visiting any schools, since he's just not allowed, at least around here.
He tried this last year (or the year before?) and was treated, to be honest, like a criminal. He is not a parent or a teacher or a volunteer. He wanted to sit in on a vo-tech or even a high school class of any sort, just to get a feel of what it's like to teach a class these days, and the answer is NO.
He did substitute-teach about half a dozen classes, after being fingerprinted (for $60, when you make $50 a day) and drug tested and background-checked, but honestly substitute teaching is a whole 'nother ball of wax, with the students determined to goof off because the regular teacher isn't present.
FL recently passed the Jessica Lunsford Act, and last week six teachers were fired in our (small) county alone, due to negative FBI background checks. One, purportedly a great teacher, was supposedly fired for skinny-dipping in the 1970's.
When I dropped off his application at a local high school on my way to work, I thought I'd be strip-searched just to walk into the office.
Let me just say for the record, We Are Not Criminals Of Any Sort, have never been arrested for anything, are not child molesters or even freakin' weird, but we cannot set foot on a school campus since we "have no business" being there. Heck, I've never even had a speeding ticket! Grrr....
Many school websites require you to fill out an application before being able to view their vacancies. This might work if he wanted to teach English as a Second Language or Special Education, but most schools don't have Automotive Teachers, much less openings for them. And applications are fantastically long and difficult, making the usual 4-page Corporate application look like a piece of cake.
I've been both shocked and disappointed at the standards of Florida School Boards. On one Veteran's Preference form, a single page, I found FIVE spelling/grammatical errors. I couldn't bear to look at the rest of the application.
DH has applied and interviewed at 2 different schools, and never heard a word from either of them, not even a polite rejection letter. An application may be 15-30 pages long, listing things like 3 neighbors at all of your residences for the past 10 years, and an interview takes over an hour, never mind travel time, yet they didn't even acknowledge his application even after a personal interview.
He just found one School Board that misspelled BOTH "Personnel" and "Department" on the their web page.
I've at least found a list of all Florida School District websites (from the State Dept of Education), but many of the links don't work, and most of the working ones require 3 or 4 page changes to get to job postings, then you have to look at postings for each school in the district..
then I have to Scream, wishing for a faster connection....
Thanks for letting me rant.
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