How bad is it to cancel a contract after signing it?

[wrldtrvlr123]

[quote="PsyGuy"]@wrldtrvlr123

So if DoDDS had actually offered you a position (and the right position, right location), just say so and the FED EX contract is in the mail, knowing youd likely NEVER get the offer again? After all once in DoDDS youd never have to worry about another fair, or it coming back to bite you, DoDDS is where you go to retire after all. There would be ZERO practical consequences, and many a DoDDS teacher has bailed on a contract (they hire so late in the summer sometimes fall after all)? Would you still have said no???[/quote]

I don't know. But since I turned down the opportunity to interview, I was obviously turning down the temptation to take a job, if offered.

Would I do the same, if it happens this summer? I can't really say. At the moment I don't have anything locked down for next fall, so it's a moot point. Would I be more likely to take the DoDDS offer if I have to settle for something less than satisfactory in terms of package, location etc? There is probably is an inverse relationship in there somewhere.

[PsyGuy]

Come on you didnt answer the question: Monday principal so and so with DODEA in (pick favorite place) calls up and says he needs a SPED teacher, and no interview, wants to hire you. Your under contract for the remaining part of this year, do you take the DoDDS job. Simple Yes or No???

[wrldtrvlr123]

[quote="PsyGuy"]Come on you didnt answer the question: Monday principal so and so with DODEA in (pick favorite place) calls up and says he needs a SPED teacher, and no interview, wants to hire you. Your under contract for the remaining part of this year, do you take the DoDDS job. Simple Yes or No???[/quote]

I honestly can't answer that with 100% certainty. Last December, I said no to that exact situation. Given that neither one of us is under contract for next year and things have been fairly crazy at my school the last few months, I'd lean slightly towards talking it.

Of course after we both interview with ESF next week (and do or do not get any offers), my answer may change. :D

[PsyGuy]

@wrldtrvlr123

Fair enough, I hope ESF makes you an offer. You know it wasnt that long ago, that you were saying your current school was so wonderful and great, they wanted to be a 1st tier school, etc. So what happened?

[lmnop]

Great, so now I'm back to feeling stressed about the timing of all of this hiring process.

[PsyGuy]

You shouldnt be, yes the worst case scenario consequences if your not smart about how you do it, can be bad, but the overall probability of getting caught is very low. Principals and heads cant cold call around to every school in the world about every employee they hire and ask if so and so is already under contract. That would be thousands of calls (there are 3,324 IB schools alone^1), and require everyone of those schools to cooperate (actually do the research). Its just not feasible or practical.

What everyone is trying to say, is that people do get caught, and bad things sometimes happen. Yes some principals would care if they found out (some also wouldnt), and again they have to find out.

This isnt applying for a security clearance, there are no teams of agents hunting down and crawling through your past, there are no polygraph tests. Do what you have to do for you. If by some unlucky coincidence you get called on it later, tell them the options and variables changed, and smart people change there mind when given new situations. If they have a problem with that, thats their problem.

There are just so many ways you could spin it if you did on the LOW, LOW chance that you get caught. You could say they broke the contract first, say they expected you to foot the bill for airfare, and they would reimburse you. Say they dumped you for a better candidate, or the old teacher came back, or someone spouse was promised your job, or they claimed they couldnt get you a Visa Who are they going to believe their new teacher who works for them, and if they let go they have to fill that spot, and risk breaking contract themselves, or some other head, they dont know, and may easily be a sociopath (there are a lot of socio path admins in the world) and have there own ulterior motive. Again, they have to find out.

^1 http://www.ibo.org/general/who.cfm

[wrldtrvlr123]

[quote="PsyGuy"]@wrldtrvlr123

Fair enough, I hope ESF makes you an offer. You know it wasnt that long ago, that you were saying your current school was so wonderful and great, they wanted to be a 1st tier school, etc. So what happened?[/quote]

Thanks.

Actually that's my wife's school. My school is a small niche school that is having some issues.

[PsyGuy]

@wrldtrvlr123

Not to push but care to elaborate on the meaning of "issues"?

[wrldtrvlr123]

[quote="PsyGuy"]@wrldtrvlr123

Not to push but care to elaborate on the meaning of "issues"?[/quote]

Not in detail, in this venue. Maybe after I secure a job for next year (nothing horrible, just the usual: money, need more students etc).

[PsyGuy]

Please, I get a sermon every week at Mass. Every time I give the school tour im selling a basket of lies, half truths, and lies of omission, not to mention general overall deceptiveness. My spine gets all tingly every time I say 'We have a rigorous academic MYP program", when not even the IB can really say what MYP is supposed to be.

[Roundtrip]

I have always been a person of my word, and would hate to sign a contract and then change my mind. Now, having said that, my thoughts have changed on that in the last few years. After 22 years of hard work and loyalty in the schools, my teaching position was cut in 2008, and I was just thrown out along with thousands of other teachers in the United States. No one cared that I had devoted my adult life to acquiring numerous certifications, changing the lives of the future of America, jumping through the hoops, so to speak, for the school districts, etc., and no one ever called to see if I were surviving after the cut. It was all about money, and Honey, if your administrator got a better deal than you at the last minute, he/she just might take it. So I guess what I'm saying is, we would all like to do the "right" and "honorable" thing, but at the end of the day, no one is going to take care of you better than YOU.