Sometimes things change when you least expect it. My local school district has been undergoing lots of turmoil in its high school recently, partly due to the incompetence of the math supervisor. As a result, nearly the entire math department has turned over the past two years, and is now filled with inexperienced teachers who have not been given any real mentoring. The supervisor was forced out recently, and I was approached by the assistant superintendent whom I know very well. She thinks that I am the best person to revitalize the math department. She claims I will have a good rapport with the young teachers and that I can raise the standards of the department overall, as well as train all the newer teachers who joined the department the past few years.

Then she offered me a salary which staggered me. My wife and I have discussed this for a few days, and I realize that the job would be both a challenge and a monetary windfall for several years, which would both help make up for some of the savings I have lost in the stock market crash, as well as improve my pension eventually quite a bit.

So today I tendered my resignation as a math teacher after nearly 30 years at my school, effective June 30th. I’ll miss my students a lot, but the math teachers at my new district are all so young–mostly all are first or second year teachers–that they are like students themselves, so I won’t be abandoning students totally.

Perhaps I will hate it, or perhaps I will love it, but for better or worse it is a fait accompli. Wish me all the luck I need this first day of April.