Adiós To My Career, For Now

Upon our move to London, I had to leave my teaching career behind in America.  I did not say cheerio to my job completely as my contract allowed for a two-year leave, which guaranteed a job at the same status (full time/part time) upon my return.  Although my leave began after the start of the 2013-14 school year, the district considered that one full year of leave.  The 2014-15 school year started back in August, and a look at the calendar shows that my second year of leave is already half over.   

I know school districts plan for the next school year long before the current year is over.  While I knew it was inevitable, I was surprised at the arrival of this in the post.

Ugh.  The district needed to know if I planned to return in the fall.  One check on a line and a signature at the bottom was all that stood between me having a job and not having a job. 

I had many conversations with Matt and in my own head about what to do:

The emotional voice in my head wanted me to indicate that I would return.  Who knows what will happen in the next few months.  Keeping my part-time job at school would be a small contribution to the family if an unexpected return happened.  Then in June/July I could send in my resignation upon knowing we were good to go through December.  

The rational voice in my head wanted me to resign by the deadline so I did not cause a problem for my principals the summer.  I've seen many instances where teachers decide over the summer to not return in the fall.  Sometimes this decision happens right in June, but sometimes it happens a few weeks or even days before school starts.  You can imagine that the candidate pool can be mighty shallow when placed in a last minute hiring situation.

The title of this post tells you which voice won.

My principal let me know that the letter was safely delivered to personnel.  So, this is goodbye to my career, but I have a sneaky feeling I'll be back someday.