no transfer

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no transfer
By Carolyn

I think it would probably help us if we knew a bit more about your situation. What I am reading into this is that you and your principal don't quite click. I don't know of the reasons for this, but I am interested in knowing.

Your
situation is a bit different from mine (in my district). In my district, a teacher can apply for a transfer and interview at another school. If the other school wants to hire the individual, all the principal at the school where the teacher is working has to do is sign over his acceptance of this transfer. We had two teachers at our school this year who asked for transfers.

One was hired at another school, and the principal authorized her transfer. He flat-out refused to allow the other teacher to transfer. His refusal, we all know, was due to the fact that she is such a strong leader and state test score maker. She is a real gem of a teacher. She was just too much of an asset for him to lose. In realilty, though, he could not refuse her her transfer if she really wanted it. I really like the teacher, and I strongly encouraged her to stay at the school. She likes the faculty, so she decided to stay.

My feeling is that if your principal doesn't like you, he should be pushing for you to have a transfer. If I were in his shoes, I would sign for your transfer, but I realize that this may not be the way it is handled in your school. From what I read, it sounds as if the approval comes from central office. Maybe you need to have a very long and agreeable talk with your principal to discuss the reasons why you did not receive the transfer. It sounds to me from B. (above) that due to your experience level, your principal is trying to do something like he did to the teacher we have at our school who was not approved for a transfer. He thinks you are responsible, so he is singling you out for extra work and responsibilities. The teacher I work with complains about the extra work responsibilities our principal has heaped on her, just because of her experience level.

I think the best thing you can do is what our teacher did: Go talk with the man. You won't be able to transfer this late in the year, but you may work out some friction.