5271 Joanna Ter, Pace, FL 32571

Our small family relocated to Florida from another state to be closer to our child’s grandparents, for my husband to help with his family’s small business, and overall live in a place with policies we believed would better support our values. We accelerated our move when l (four years of experience as a special education teacher)—was hired to fill an emergency vacancy for a special education classroom in the Santa Rosa County School District. The previous teacher had not returned after the break and this classroom has had several teachers in the last few years. Despite stepping into a challenging and chaotic classroom, I worked hard to support my students—many of whom displayed aggressive behavior—and I received little to no support from administration. Less than few months later, in early May I was let go without cause. I had done nothing wrong. In fact, my dismissal came immediately after I completed a full round of IEP meetings and student assessments, which the school urgently needed. It felt as though I was used to meet deadlines and then cast aside.This decision placed an enormous financial burden on our family. We had just purchased a home near the school, and we were relying on my job to provide health coverage for our family. Since then, I have applied and interviewed with over a dozen schools within the district and surrounding counties. Only one other public school extended an offer.It’s incredibly disheartening to see how little job security is offered to good teachers in this state and specifically this school. At the very least, school leadership and districts should be required to provide a clear reason when terminating an educator—especially when they’ve stepped in during a crisis and done their best to serve students with complex needs.