The International Schools Review Forum

You said: "And as for the comment about completing contracts, it couldn't be more wrong. If you had the patience (and decency) to check, you would see that I just completed one - and have completed many, many more. But, you're the kind of person who ignores facts when they contradict your own cherished views."

I actually did take the time, patience (and decency) to look at your resume. My cherished view stands.

But regardless, even if I did completely agree with everything you've said, you've shot yourself in the foot with your amateurish, over the top website. Yes, I know who the artwork portrays. It's still ridiculous, and any school recruiter that sees this website it likely to think so as well. "Dark atmosphere to portray the nature of the deeds"? Grow the hell up.

Also, the school didn't betray you. Would you have honestly preferred they let you relocate to Germany and THEN let you go? If there was no job, they can't create one out of the air. They let you know and gave you compensation. Do I think it's totally fair that it happened? No, I don't. But what did you honestly expect them to do if there was no job for you?

Do I think it's wrong of you to post about your experiences? No, I don't. But creating ridiculous websites does not make YOU look good. The school will be fine regardless. You still eventually need a job though, don't you?

[quote] Severam says: Also, the school didn't betray you. Would you have honestly preferred they let you relocate to Germany and THEN let you go?[/quote]

That sounds like a better deal to me. He'd get to see Germany for 3 months and he'd get better compensation. The school was only protecting its own interests and screwed over a teacher in the process.

But there was NO JOB. He would have gone to Germany for 3 months to sit and do nothing. Yes, the school was protecting their own interests, but they were upfront and honest with him. They told him there was no job.

I don't deny that I would be angry. But I would be much, MUCH angrier if I uprooted my entire life only to be let go three months later. I'd much rather be told in advance, given some money, and then tried to look for a new job.

[quote="sevarem"]But there was NO JOB. He would have gone to Germany for 3 months to sit and do nothing. Yes, the school was protecting their own interests, but they were upfront and honest with him. They told him there was no job.[/quote]
Upfront and honest! You saying that the school was protecting their own interests is the only part which I agree with you on. I don't think you would have quite so much clarity of thought and understanding if this happened to you. Yes, I agree with you on the topic of the website. That website is very over the top and even a little infantile, but I can certainly relate to his anger and appreciate his efforts in telling other teachers about his negative experiences. He left what sounded like a good job elsewhere to pursue this position in Bavaria and now may be left in a position where he has to take a job at a school he doesn't really like just so that he can keep the gaps off his CV and of course keep the money coming in. Schools are not dealing with backpackers with no kids, no mortgage and a carefree life. People have responsibilities to meet and rely on a mutual understanding that a contract will be honoured. It is not like he is bleating about the school interviewing him, giving him a good vibe, and then turning him down. He signed a contract, gave notice and made plans to relocate. So yes, the decent thing would have been to bring him over there, give him three months, letting him know that there was nothing beyond that and then fly him home. In the meantime they could have been helping him set up at another school in Germany, given that this is where he clearly wanted to be. One month's salary is not adequate compensation. The school had plenty of time to recruit staff. What schools need to do is set effective deadlines, not advertise their entire roster and then after interviewing and handing out jobs, let existing staff change their mind and stay on. Either there is a position or there isn't. I know personally of two situation with friends of mine, one where the person was left hanging for three months after the interview at a fair where they were told they would have a decision within three weeks. The result was that the school admitted that they decided to recruit a previous member of staff who wanted to return. In the second instance, interviews were granted in London by a school which, after the couple had flown out for the interview, read their emails as soon as they landed in London and discovered that while they were flying, an email had been sent cancelling their interview as the position details had changed.
I don't know this teacher's history, but he has been treated exceptionally badly and rather than shouting him down and abrogating the school of all blame, as candidates we need to take this as a lesson to ask extensively at interviews if the position is a definite or possible. Those schools which continually pull these stunts should be outed and blacklisted in which the same way that schools choose to gossip about and blacklist us.

The school was wrong in what they did...but it sounds more like they did not do their homework properly in their reference checks and were warned off you after contracts had been signed. Stating that there is no job now available is to prevent legal action. Your website will not be hurting them in the slightest but will be giving them some comfort that they had a lucky escape.

@ Higgsboson...do you teach children about honesty and integrity? You use the existence of unscrupulous schools as an excuse. Don't hide behind the actions of others...you have made it clear that you are happy to lie and cheat, but say you do so because there are liars and cheats in the world. Sorry, but in my books you are simply a liar and a cheat and deserve the same amount of respect as the rest of them. That would be none!

The school did the right thing, but didnt compensate him adequately. Fair would have been 3 months salary, and airfare to relocate to Germany with a work permit if he wished, or the value of the airfare if he choose to stay. The idea that a school is going to act as a placement agency and find him another position is unrealistic. The school could have made a job for him, say as a full time substitute, but that's not very realistic either considering the expense.

So basically they were right but cheap.

The issue is that under German law an employee hasn't vacated a position until they resign, so a school can't force a teacher who gives notice or intent to leave the position to actually resign, and many schools in Europe including Germany have very late resignation dates for returning staff, usually late May or June. So a teacher in December might give notice to their school that they are leaving, but then change their mind in late spring or summer, and the school is stuck with them.

[quote="PsyGuy"]So basically they were right but cheap.[/quote]

No, they were not right. They may have been acting within whatever ridiculous laws govern the education system internationally, but they were certainly not right. If someone says they are not staying and the school recruits someone for the following year, then that needs to be it and Search needs to put its foot down and say that they will not be inviting those schools back that continually mislead by advertising across the board and then picking and choosing from those people they have promised a job to. As I said, we are not dealing with backpackers here fresh out of school. These are people with families, mortgages and a CV to maintain. As international teachers we deal with the three most stressful changes when we teach abroad. Change of house, change of country and change of job. It would be a hell of a lot easier if schools understood this and only promised a position when one was on offer.

But that can't be "it", there is no job. People break contracts all the time, there was this merchant guy in some part of Italy, Venice I think who had the same law, he wanted this absurd contract enforced by the courts. Things happen though, teachers have last minute emergencies and can't arrive at schools, should they be forever condemned because they failed to perform to the letter of the contract? Justice is not as simple as a rule book.

The school had a position on offer, but then because the prior teacher didnt vacate the position they didnt have an opening anymore. The issue really is how much was the breach of contract worth, he should of gotten a lot more then a months salary, and the agencies such as Search, and ISS should have stepped in (if the reader was repped through them), and applied their considerable pressure in advocating for a stronger severance package.

If it was me I would have declined the one months salary, gone to the school, let them terminate, then negotiate from the position of being there, and having access to the labor court. All the while your have had access to social benefits for the unemployed.

But expecting a school to pay a 2 year contract in full, when there is no job, that's never going to happen.

Sorry PsyGuy but the school was not right. You cite the comparison that teachers break contracts and that emergencies occur which prevent staff taking up a contract they have signed. In most instances these 'emergencies' consist of having found a better school elsewhere. That is not right either. But sometimes there are genuine emergencies and that can't be helped. In this instance the school didn't know that the staff member would change their mind and stay on, that is true, if indeed that was the case. However, if schools were quite firm with their staff early on and strict with their resignations then situations like this would not occur. A position would be vacated and then the school would have a genuine vacancy which they could advertise. Yes, I agree with you that the realities of the international teaching environment mean that the reality is that these merry-go-round situations are going to keep occurring. But don't call it 'right.' Ethically it is as wrong as an airline cancelling a flight at short notice because it is not financially viable, labeling the reason as 'engine difficulities.' We can't change it but we shouldn't make excuses for the growing prevalence of unethical and unprofessional schools with incompetent management and administration teams. The message should be - you screw up, you pay up!

You said, "However, if schools were quite firm with their staff early on and strict with their resignations then situations like this would not occur."

That's all well and good for you to say so, but if German employment law states otherwise, then it doesn't matter how strict the schools may care to be.

Either way, we're all being ridiculous. Look how we all jumped into David Getling's usual drama causing antics. He can't get anyone to play along on the TES forums anymore, so he came here. Notice how he hasn't commented since.

If the school had an official resignation and the paperwork was all done then there is no recourse to German employment law because they have officially resigned. It is just that schools are so wishy-washy about determining what positions need to be filled that they never actually have a full quota of truly vacant jobs. I don't care about David Getling and what he may be trying to do. I am not quite sure why this guy has pissed so many of you off or why you all feel so threatened by him. In a way it is good to see a teacher 'stick it' to a school when the majority of teachers I have worked with are brown-nosing 'yes men' who are too afraid to stand up to management but take every opportunity to bitch about the job in private. I have decided to leave the international teaching scene because of the despicable way in which most schools treat their staff. Most of them have this, 'you should feel lucky to be here' attitude and provide very little in the way of compensation and reward. If Bavarian International School is a shit hole to teach at where management send you lovely flowery letters of welcome and then dispense with you at the click of their fingers with one month's paltry pay, then I want to know about it. If anything I got a good laugh out of looking at David's website, as infantile as it might be. At least he put himself out there and put his name to it and he alone is willing to take the consequences of his actions. I could not do that and prefer, like you, the security blanket of anonymity, mainly because I know how nasty and vindictive these schools are

They probably found your website, which looks like it was made by a grade 5 student in Frontpage 10 years ago, and saw the gripes and complaints and excuses you pull off on pretty much every school you've been in. Entertaining reading if it wasn't true so it just makes it a sad testimony on your professionalism.

Your website is a PR nightmare for you and I would recommend you remove it and burn the server it is on.

I don't know what happened in this situation, but what I would say is that if the original poster is telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, then I am appalled by the school's actions. He should certainly take this up with the recruitment agency, and they should intercede on his behalf with the school.
However, BIS isn't a fly-by-night operation, so I think you should be careful before you make assumptions - as Dave Jaw does so readily. His first comment is:
"What probably happened is the teacher you were going to replace decided to stay..."
A couple of days later, the "probably" becomes a fact:
"The school had a position on offer, but then because the prior teacher didnt vacate the position they didnt have an opening anymore."
Of course he has no grounds for turning his speculation into truth, but when did he ever let facts get in the way of his postings?
Next he reveals his profound grasp of German labor law:
"...so a school can't force a teacher who gives notice or intent to leave the position to actually resign..."
Let me be clear about this, in German labor law, once you give formal written notice, you have no right to rescind that unilaterally. And I cannot believe that BIS, with its easy access to best legal advice, would ever make such a stupid mistake as to "assume" someone was leaving and then hire a replacement only to find its original assumption was mistaken.
If the school did do this, then the poster should take them for whatever he can, but my own guess, on reading the school's letter is that, after signing the contract, something emerged about the candidate that was a deal-breaker as far as the school was concerned. Because they don't wish to reveal their sources or become involved in court action, they are making the minimum pay-off they can.
My "guess" may be doing the candidate an injustice, but so might all your guesses be doing the school an injustice.
That said, I can't believe that BIS was ever going to hire someone with such a dodgy resume. That string of one year postings is enough of a red flag to make any sensible head at a decent school pass over this candidate in a second.

[quote="Walter"] That string of one year postings is enough of a red flag to make any sensible head at a decent school pass over this candidate in a second.[/quote]

And that is what pisses me off with the international school system, both from schools and teachers. Who knows why some teachers chose to leave after a year. If the school doesn't deliver on all its promises then what choice do you have? Grin and bear it? Or leave? I must admit, his CV does not look that attractive, but then as long as people are staying to finish at least one year it gives the school the opportunity to find someone decent for the next academic year. That of course was an option they did not give this teacher on this occasion. The whole system just pisses me off. Way too pretentious and full of international schools that never should have been called schools in the first place, managed by administrators who were too incompetent to get a job back home, and ditto for a lot of the chalk n' talk teachers! Glad to be out of it!

So the position is that it took BIS 6 months between January (when they made the offer) and June (when they terminated) to do their due diligence and background check? That they wait until June to look at his resume/profile, and THEN (6 months later) make the decision that he was too flaky or had an unstable work history? What ever the issues were, BIS went into it with their eyes open.

In this case though the school really does have an emergency. Under German labor law a notice or intent isn't formal or binding. Only an actual resignation is a resignation, this is designed in German law to minimize misunderstandings. The issue is that the deadline to resign a contract or position is very late in the year around May/June. What I see happening is the prior teacher says there leaving at the end of the year sometime in December. The reader was hired in January during the height of fair and recruiting season. Then the deadline for resigning comes up in early June, and the teacher doesn't actually resign the position. The "intent" the original teacher gave isn't legally binding, and they haven't formally and officially resigned. Under German law, they can't force the original teacher to resign, and they can't dismiss them as they don't have cause. So they have two teachers, one job, and one teacher they have to legally keep.

The school didnt have an official resignation in the first place (back in January, and they didnt get one in June).

I really do believe the school owes more compensation to the OP, but paying a two year salary for a job that isn't there anymore isn't going to happen.