• What do you think is fair from both the admin's point of view, and Lavinia's?

I think the new admin is in a bad situation, but to assume that Lavinia has misunderstood what was being offered to her is a bit over the top. I don't think that Lavinia could have a good year at the school after so much trouble before she even arrives back in Kuwait. It will set a negative tone for her year, either way.

I think the compromise suggested by Dr. Barbara is fair and reasonable. The school is in the wrong by suggesting she accept their way or the highway. They just have the power, and in my books, might does not mean right. There is no way the school is looking for a win-win situation and it sounds like the present administration is quite immature. Lavinia should look for greener pastures.

I think Dr Spilchuk's advice to Debbie is correct: they honor the contract to Lavinia for a specific period of time, but make it clear to the other teachers that this is because Lavinia was promised these conditions by the outgoing administration and these cannot be reneged on. Furthermore, all contracts from now on will be consistent with the rules. Also make it clear to the teachers that for as long as THEIR contracts run, the administration will honor them. Debbie has to reassure other teachers, while at the same time being fair to Lavinia.

This is not unusual in Kuwait. Contracts recently have been altered without any renegotiations at another school in Kuwait. Threats abound if you "challenge" the "integrity" of the school or administrator either verbally or in writing. This was also in this correspondence at some point in the letters and it certainly matched what is happening at mine. My advice...unless you cannot afford to go elsewhere AND you can accept most things AND not talk to anyone about it, stay out of Kuwait. My last year in Kuwait for sure!

Honoring the result of the original negotiations is the only fair and equitable outcome. Single housing should be provided. I am currently teaching in Indonesia and had negotiated single housing. I was sure to have that added to my contract and so far it has not been an issue. I believe the lesson here is to get it in writing or you have nothing to stand on later.

After living in Q8 and working at a for-profit American school the past five years, Lavinia will be lucky indeed to have any belongings to collect! The school will have a few maids or maintenance men come in and they will probably pick through her things .I say, stay away and kiss your things good-bye. There are too many decent schools & countries to teach at and live in to even want to risk being at this new admin's mercy. I'm curious...is this Debbie Dixon the same American woman who converted to Islam and totally covered her self in black only revealing her striking blue eyes from behind the veil & nahkob? Who just a couple of years ago was teaching first or second grade on the boys' campus at ACA?

I believe Dr. Spilchuck's suggestion for the school to pay 50% of the costs of a single accommodation are reasonable. I also agree that schools should reconsider shared accommodations since many people don't want that punishment. Giving the staff an option for shared or single housing is a reasonable alternative. the shared accommodations are to save the school money, period!

Ms. Dixon said, "FBS is not unique in offering shared housing--this is quite a common practice here in Kuwait." That is not true most of the international schools in Kuwait offer single housing, those that are worth working for. Some schools don't but they are schools to beware of. I lived and worked in Kuwait for over 10 years, I have seen private education evolve. I would steer clear of FBS. When in Kuwait, a contract is just a piece of paper, it really has no worth. That is why you need to be careful of the school that you work for.

Fair? You are talking about Kuwait, right? I've stayed silent through this whole summer of Kuwait stories. But, now feel I might offer an opinion. I taught in Kuwait. I am a single, American woman. I have over 15 years teaching experience - including a master's degree in education. I am certified in two US states.

Lavinia should stay far away from Kuwait. Teachers are easy to find (they should look for those who don't know yet about your wonderful organization) and a younger one might enjoy a roommate. Administration has chosen defense of the owner (Surprise!) and has taken that step beyond the ethical practices so hard fought for and won by unions. Teaching in Kuwait sounds like coal mining in the twenties. It is a bad situation for teachers and hence for children. Lavinia, and you, Debbie, should know that you deserve the treatment you provide for your staff, and no better. Lavinia had witnesses to the agreement and you called them inept and her a liar, sounding righteous in defense of your position. Bad form, but why should we expect otherwise? After all, it is Kuwait.

I think the teacher is blind to the norms of international education. It is a well-known fact that housing in Kuwait is shared. Even unmarried partners are required to share housing with a member or members of the same sex. Another example of teachers entering lightly into contracts without having researched the country in enough depth beforehand.

Lavinia, being new to Kuwait, was probably unaware that the housing situation traditionally involved shared apartments, with a surcharge for private apartments. She should also have been aware of when she was supposed to return to begin preparing for the new school year. However, if she was given a verbal agreement to have a private apartment, it would not be surprising that the surcharge may not have been mentioned. "ALWAYS GET ANY AGREEMENTS IN WRITING, clearly and in detail, especially in Kuwait!" If the owner or administrator refuses to sign a written agreement, then this action should be a good indicator of their lack of personal integrity or professional ethics, and a "red flag" to start looking elsewhere for another teaching position.

My first overseas job was in Kuwait, and I made the decision to pay the surcharge to have a private apartment. The lesson I left with was that the owners of private schools in Kuwait treat the teachers the way many expats hired by Kuwaiti companies are treated, as second-class citizens or common workers. It is also the only country in which I have taught, or ever will teach, that requires teachers to either share accommodations or pay a surcharge for a private apartment.

There are plenty of excellent international schools in many countries around the world, with experienced and honorable administrators who treat their faculty and staff fairly and honorably. The recent events in Kuwait should be raising red flags to every international educator. The lessons Lavinia has learned from her experience in Kuwait should serve her well in her next international school.

I understand the admin is put under a lot of stress/pressure and offered a lot of money to stay faithful to a school. Lavinia is not in a situation I am unfamiliar with as I use to work at Fawzia Sultan International School.

I was promised one thing by one admin and told "too bad" by another. Favoritism played a factor from the new (never been a principal or had any mentoring at all) principal, and this made the year very difficult for us all. However, they pay so well that you can see why people stay. The money was really good. Integrity and money....right and wrong...is it right that a high school principal gets her paper work in a summer (is qualified), has a great heart for kids and no experience doing a job? No. It is the school in the log run that suffers when a principal cannot help or doesn't know how to help the teaches. Or doesn't support the teachers when a director is in the wrong (whole other story). But money seems to be the common factor.

When Tania Woodburn was offered the director's position she jumped at it. It is a lot more prestige and I am sure at least a bit more money. She had never been a principal, did that for two years and is now the director. She is, like Debbie, a good person, excellent teacher and perhaps mediocre principal (or great one) but it seems that in the long run they have to follow their pay check. Integrity loses.

I personally got into the profession of teaching with the idea that integrity came first. I am sure Debbie and Tania did too, but somewhere along the line...perhaps dotted and full of zeros these great teachers start to convince themselves that what is happening is ok, maybe even "right". It is a hard place to find oneself as a teacher watching it happen. The two sides of the story seem to me to be legitimate. However, it comes down to she said, he said. I feel Lavinia's pain more because that is exactly what happen to me in Kuwait.

I often wonder if it happens everywhere in this international money making school business environment...YET, I continue to teach internationally in hope that the relationships and ties I make with the locals outweigh the stress and havoc of the unknown.

I don't think it was fair but I also think that Lavinia should have gotten the housing situation in writing since it was changing the initial contract

I can see both sides of the coin. Perhaps I would have negotiated a temporary increase in Lavinia's pay for a short term to compensate her for having to share. She gets a bit more dosh, the school gets the shared housing benefit and everybody is happy. It would have been good to have the school present a range of alternatives they could live with and then have Lavinia choose one. That would show reasonableness on behalf of the school and if Lavinia choose not to select an option it would be her who would be being unreasonable. Understand that a verbal agreement without written contract language in the Middle East is meaningless.

Anyone who works overseas has to be flexible. If she wants to live alone, pay the difference, and GET IT IN Writing!

Return to Kuwait? WHY? No other options?

..... A little time is needed for a person who is not present in the country and who feels 'threatened' by the new and unknown administration's new ruling. Rahal's letter, in my view, was a termination of Lavinia's contract. I couldn't answer the first question for myself, but Lavinia's right to stand her ground has led to this impasse. With the knowledge of Katherine Phillips' experience Lavinia may be making the right choice. One bad experience in a country can be heard by many!

As I live and work in kuwait I understand that in the end the owner has the final say. if the owner wanted to stand up for his agreement he would. the new administration can only do so much.

I think it is incumbent upon the administration to 'err' on the side of the employee. A witnessed verbal agreement (never a good substitute for a written and signed contract) should be as good as gold in international school circles. Unfortunately, Lavinia's naivete shows through in this incident and has hurt her students, her colleagues, and the reputation of the school.

On the other side, the administration's lack of transparency belies the fact that many 'for profit' schools around the world have a potent conflict of interest as a foundational tenet of their existence. I'd NEVER go to a for-profit school for that very reason. Not-for-profit schools may still make mistakes and bad decisions, but it's not because any element of the school administration will profit from such decisions. Hard lesson to learn, but if you are in international education for any length of time it's a theme you will hear over and over again.

Anything short of swift and permanent closure of this reprehensible institution should be considered a failure for the international teaching profession. ALL international schools that buckle to local pressure and corruption should be avoided.

The admin has not been fair. Any policy changes come into effect only after all current agreements/understandings have been upheld.

one half year without additional fee for apartment, one half year to be paid by teacher

This is obviously not a school and administration to be trusted. "Fair" seems to have little to do with it. "Wise" would be to avoid this school and its administrators completely!!

.... True, she should have received it all in writing, but a handshake and verbal agreement with witnesses should have been enough. Teachers deserve respect, better than what Lavinia is receiving. She should get her things shipped back to her in S. Africa and leave it at that. There are plenty of better schools out there. The new admin let their own kids down, not this teacher.

All this makes me want to return to teaching at home with a strong union. Fair is both going their separate ways.

The administration is trying to get away with hiring teachers "on the cheap" and using the change in administration as an excuse to avoid what was promised in front of a witness.

It appears that Ms Dixon has endeavored to improve the situation as much as she was able to within the guidelines of the school. Lavinia has been placed in a difficult situation and one in which other teachers hope never to be in.

Agree to end their commitment, ship the property to the owner and move on.

Fairness hardly enters into the equation in the case of far too many privately owned Middle Eastern schools. However, we cannot overlook the responsibility of teachers to exercise 'due diligence' in researching the professional and ethical climate in such schools. With the amount of communication now available, not least through ISR, even first-timers venturing abroad cannot be excused the responsibility of knowing what they are heading into. If they do know, and still go, then presumably the anticipated benefits are worth the risk to them. As a school director, I am always amazed to see many otherwise intelligent teachers dazzled by the lure of the exotic, or by talk of big money.

Unfortunately for the admin, they are between a rock and a hard place, depending upon their ethics. Perhaps they need to ask themselves what they would do in the same situation, as a possible means of understanding the extreme concern of Lavinia. No doubt they too would expect their contracts to be honored. It is also not true that all teachers in Kuwait share. I know of several where this is not the case.

She should be glad she is out of that country. I think that taking a position in Kuwait after all that went on there with Katherine Phillips is risky. And if they will do that over housing, what if there were other, more important issues at hand? Shake off the Kuwaiti dust and move on!

...no way reputable schools in Kuwait make teachers share housing. Top schools...ASK, Bayan, Universal....no shared housing. To insinuate otherwise is completely dishonest and misleading.

.....I'd NEVER take a job where that was required! I'm a grown woman and a professional, not a backpacker!

... we learned our lesson in our first International school. We came to a compromise with the school because that way each party had met in the middle. Ultimately, it was our fault because we did not have it written in the contract that we signed. We certainly learned what to make sure was in our consequent contracts.

I agree w/ Lavinia's argument that she should be allowed single housing. On the other hand, I also agree that school policy is school policy. I think that if Lavinia had any intention to return, she would have been prepared to be there at the beginning of the school orientation. That she had 'other plans' when she was expected back at school shows a lack of integrity.

... Search, CIS and ISS need to play a more defining role in teacher recruitment when it comes to sub-par schools... and Kuwait definitely has its share of sub-par schools. Since teachers don't have a collective voice, sites like ISR and the recruiters themselves are the only real organizations we have to assist teachers as they try to secure decent employment. I am not saying that Kuwait is the only country that has a problem with schools, all countries and schools have issues. All schools have various levels of administration competency based on numerous personal perspectives.

However, Kuwait has more than its fair share of complaints. Where there is smoke... there usually is fire. I worked in the Middle East, I traveled to Kuwait for sports trips, I have been to some of these schools that have been discussed on this web site. To avoid an unwanted headache, just take Kuwait off your list of places you would like to teach and so should the recruiters. I almost forgot... ALWAYS get your agreements in writing... ALWAYS.

I think Lavinia should not go there under any circumstance and that all agreements should be made in writing. Also it is inexcusable to have shared housing for professional adults. No one should justify that. I love teaching abroad but the nonsense which often goes along with it-- is often a reason to just stay home and work. What a shame. My congratulations to Lavinia for standing up for herself.

The school's point of view: The schools is just that a school, it is their business. They try to get the best deal possible with their teachers, a deal that is best for the school. They look for their best interests first. Let there be no illusions that they are a business, money is first and foremost. I do see their point about a change of administration thus a change of ideas and way of running things and wanting to put those changes in place.

Lavinia's point of view. The school made a promise and they must honor it, whether the policy has changed or not. Lavinia must stand her ground and not give in. If the school initially approached her openly and honestly about the situation then I would have suggested that Lavinia negotiate some kind of compromise. The school did not treat her with the respect she deserved and a couple of Debbie's letters were anything but sincere and/or honest. I feel if Lavinia went to the school she would come across many problems. The school has not honored their agreement nor treated her with respect Lavinia would be wise to be very cautious before even think of returning to Kuwait.

I find it interesting that Barbara's respect for Debbie changed and it goes to show that even a person with integrity can be easily changed.

ISR provides a service that is seriously lacking in international teaching and that is the protection of the teacher. Schools don't seem to understand that a teacher going to another country takes a risk as they are now dependent on the school for support and their personal well-being. The teacher's support system is limited and a teachers ability to protect themselves is tenuous no matter where they are. Any school taking advantage of this must be brought to light and teachers must be vigilant by not going to such a school. If schools can't get teachers because their practices has lead to a bad reputation then they must change.

Schools that hire international teachers have always had the upper hand as there are no real international agreements nor monitoring of standards or ethical behavior. Schools have been able to get away with things that a school would never be able to get away with if it was in the USA, Britain, Canada, Australia, etc. ISR is finally a place where teachers can begin to send a message to schools that we are not alone. There is a huge community of teachers that are talking to each other and supporting each other. I don't think that there can be a political solution to the problems associated with overseas teaching and it is good to see that teachers have begun to take the matter into their own hands. I strongly encourage teachers to ask the questions and get answers and assurances before accepting any contract. If a school has a bad reputation then avoid them, its the only way the situation will change. Schools have held a black list over international teachers long enough it is good to see that teachers are beginning to create their own black list through ISR.

Cut your losses and return to Kuwait to get your things. She will probably have to buy a one-way ticket to return home and look for another job. Good luck.

If Lavinia had a verbal agreement, then she is entitled to the single housing. This culture goes on so much about honesty and trust, then they should honor it. The cost of single housing for 1/2 a year was generous for the school and am surprised they did not take it . Schools are worried about setting precedents, but surely the other teachers would understand this situation as being non normal. In the end , after all that has occurred, Lavinia could never feel comfortable in that environment. Way too much water has passed under that bridge. Annon.

What is fair has nothing to do with what will happen in this case. The Kuwaitis are not serious about contracts as they mean nothing. Even if you were right and had everything in writing the law would rule in their favor. Anyone who teaches in Kuwait does so at the mercy of their employer and nothing more. And don't expect your embassy (US or other) to bail you out if you get into trouble over there-even if it is not of your own doing. Anyone who teaches in Kuwait is a fool or terribly desperate.

Why all the gnashing of teeth? Lavinia should have cancelled her contract after three emails. Like Kuwait is that great a place to live? Puh-leeez.......

Lavinia is right as verbal agreements are binding. Admin is wrong in not providing a decent solution like giving her one more year of single housing but making it clear that the next year she will have to share or pay. Bad school with a bad reputation in a country with a worse reputation. When will administrators wake up!

.....I had to learn a lot about humility during my teaching in Asia... certain cultures do not believe in the power of the individual or standing up for your individual rights or any of those behaviors that we learn in a democratic nation. So we can't bring our expectations there and get everything our way. They don't like to give individuals power, (especially women) and when you demand it you become the enemy. At least that's what I have found out in my own experience and in reading about these other cases.

I think 'fair' would be honoring the single housing promised by the administration. Note that 'administration' in my mind is the school as represented by any person in the role of principal. It should not make a difference if one person is replaced by another - they both represent the same organization.

When a director makes a promise to an employee, the school needs to support that promise. A verbal agreement is considered binding in our profession, at least it is at all of the recruitment fairs.

the admin team should have contacted the past admin team, no matter of the terms of the parting, to confirm this utterance and verbal witnessed addition to the contract and then offered a drastically reduced charge accommodation for separate accommodation until the end of the lady's current contract. All we have as International teachers are the strength of good enforceable contracts made in good faith!!!

Giving Lavinia single accommodation when others share would cause hard feelings. Mr. Kumar seems to have caused the misunderstanding and should be dismissed. I have to say though, I have taught in Kuwait for seven years, two different schools, and I know teachers from many schools - shared accommodation is NOT the norm, nor has it been for several years. Schools with shared accommodation here are indeed those perceived to be "fly by night" schools.

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