One year I helped break in a man new to his job as supervisor.   He took his job very seriously. His job description and duties read:

“ Assume all instructional personnel are in dire need of correction and supervision.  Show them the error of their ways using a patronizing tone of voice and body  language. Attempt to communicate via telepathy that you regard them as marginally more intelligent than heifers. (the staff is female) You may push them to the limit without fear of mass resignations because your district pays more money than any other within driving distance.”

Ok, I may have exaggerated a bit.

He entered my classroom one day in the middle of a lesson. Courtesy to a tenured teacher usually manifests itself by a little warning of the impending visit, but our guy was out to catch us in the act of incompetence by springing his leopard like self on us in alarming appearances. He stated  that he was justified in doing this because I was not tenured, even though I had documentation by the administration that stated otherwise.

We had this conversation in the hall one day.

“I have to observe all untenured teachers three times”  he told me.

“I’m tenured. I’ve been here five years.”

“No, because you’re part time it takes you six years.’

“Well, I have this paperwork here, and a contract, and right here it says tenured teacher. And in this correspondence between the union and the superintendent, it says here tenured teacher.”

 “No, I checked with the secretary at the board office. “

I was glad to hear that the secretary at the board office knew more than the president of the union and the superintendent. Obviously she was taking that class in school law that the two others had missed. Finally, I sicced the union president on him. I never saw the value in unions until I became a teacher. And now I’m a believer.