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Is it time to leave?

Posted by Me on 4/16/2025, 1:48 pm

I have over a decade in this field. I've worked in large and small schools, high school and middle school. I've been a head director and an assistant. I have found success at UIL in marching and in concert and sightreading. I build great relationships with students. After a rough couple of years, I was asked to resign. No laws were broken, nothing unethical happened. Just told that I am not good enough to teach at this school or perhaps at this classification. I'm sure there is more said about me behind my back, but I'm out of here.

Is this the time to leave the field?

I don't know if I am asking advise or just working through this on yellowboard.

Re: Is it time to leave?

Posted by Update on 4/24/2025, 9:25 pm, in reply to "Is it time to leave?"

Seeing my position posted hurts. My friend called me to let me know that people in this district are saying horrible things about me to other schools. I see that I'm leaving a toxic situation, but I may have to pick up and move just to keep an income...

I am defeated.

Re: Is it time to leave?

Posted by Respectfully on 4/25/2025, 1:30 pm, in reply to "Re: Is it time to leave?"

What hurts worse is seeing your position posted *again* within a year or two because the "great new direction" they wanted to go in failed almost immediately.

When you know you would have stuck with it and tried to build up that program.

Re: Is it time to leave?

Posted by Same on 4/25/2025, 7:15 am, in reply to "Re: Is it time to leave?"

So sorry about that dude, when I left my first job, my Head Director badmouthed me to all of the places I interviewed. Hope it gets better.

Re: Is it time to leave?

Posted by Little Fish on 4/23/2025, 8:02 pm, in reply to "Is it time to leave?"

I was in a situation that was so purposefully and continually toxic that I had nearly convinved myself that maybe I was getting to old and out of touch for this job. I love what I do - have great passion for teaching, and I have options to teach another subject. I applied for both band and non-band positions knowing that music was still my greatest passion. I ended up in a band job in an excellent district. I'm in my 3rd year of a growing program that brings home some descent ratings, and I love my super supportive admin, staff, and community. Perhaps it isn't you - perhaps it just isn't the right fit. If you are passionate about what you do, than do it.
As for the position I left... the things I worked so hard to build have collapsed, and it breaks my heart for the kids there, but it also validates, in a way, that perhaps I was doing good there after all, and maybe it was even more of an uphill battle than I even realized.
In the end... Follow your heart... Listen to your soul...

Re: Is it time to leave?

Posted by Same on 4/23/2025, 7:31 am, in reply to "Is it time to leave?"

Literally just happened to me. We just got a new Director at the HS and they didn't like my beginner classes, so they talked to my principal and are giving me this ultimatum. I don't really know what to do, my fiance and I just bought a house in the community so we really can't just get up and move somewhere else. A lot of thinking to do.

Re: Is it time to leave?

Posted by older than dirt on 4/17/2025, 9:32 am, in reply to "Is it time to leave?"

points to consider? do you have a passion for music? do you get pleasure/satisfaction from seeing students "get it". When you lie in bed at night as a band director, what thoughts run through your mind? I will tell you that there are places where we fit with the school. I have been in a few different jobs. I fit with the community, but not the admin. I fit with the admin, but not the community. I have been in places that I had great results and was appreciated, but band had no importance and my efforts were ignored. How do you find that fit? keep trying. I don't begrudge anyone. Truth is that in most of my jobs, I was an enigma in the district. When I was at large schools, we had enough staff that I had a posse, but even then, there was jealousy and envy. Jockeying for position and favor. I never played that game. My students always have known that I care and have been responsive to the care. So the answer is, "do they know you care?" and if not, maybe it's time for something else.

Re: Is it time to leave?

Posted by Response on 4/17/2025, 7:41 am, in reply to "Is it time to leave?"

I was told something similar by a principal a few years back. Said principal wanted to bring in a "more energetic" director (read: younger) who could "commit to the program" (read: didn't have a family) and who would "better engage the students" (read: change the marching band away from corps style).

I stuck it out for awhile, but then said principal tasked an AP with observing me weekly and finding every possible fault they could. When the admin presented me with a growth plan I tendered my resignation and didn't look back - and somehow, said growth plan magically vanished and was never referenced again.

Never mind that the school got the highest UIL scores in both C&SR and marching under me that they had ever gotten in the school's history, and they haven't come close to those scores since. They wanted "energy" and "engagement" - and they've had plenty of that since I left half a decade ago - they're on their fifth director since then.

If you're truly discouraged, step away for a year and teach elementary or perhaps another subject altogether, if you can pass a certification exam. Don't let one idiot principal or FAD ruin your career.

Remember that MOST FAD have worked in ideal situations almost their entire careers. A few spend a year or two in a truly tough situation before they move to suburbia and spend ten-fifteen years building or maintaining a good program, then get promoted to administration. Two years in a "rough" school in the 90s isn't anything like what kids deal with today, and we all know it.

You know what you can do and what you're capable of - is one or two people's opinions being different than yours enough to make you give up what you've spent decades of your life doing?

Re: Is it time to leave?

Posted by Me on 4/17/2025, 7:39 am, in reply to "Is it time to leave?"

I’m in the same boat. As you get older you become less marketable in education. They tend to hire young to save money since schools are “Independent” in Texas and get to decide how to spend their money. Expertise is much less lucrative in most places. I was offered a job selling insurance that could bring in over 150k a year. It’s tempting. But I know I love teaching. I’m also tired to making my family move and change schools. This is why I don’t advocate music education as a career unless kids really want to do it.

Re: Is it time to leave?

Posted by MS on 4/17/2025, 7:37 am, in reply to "Is it time to leave?"

Questions to ask yourself

Was this program successful before you arrived? How long was the previous director there? Was the administration supportive in your opinion? Would I have eventually left anyways?

What will I do instead? Can I do this another 20 years?

Re: Is it time to leave?

Posted by Thoughts on 4/16/2025, 5:14 pm, in reply to "Is it time to leave?"

Do you enjoy what you do? Do you feel like you are making a positive impact on the students' lives? If you still love teaching students and still love teaching band and music, maybe this school just isn't the right fit for you? Being asked to resign could be for a myriad of reasons, both legitimate and illegitimate.

If you had not been asked to resign, would you still want to be in the profession? I think the answer to that question is the same answer to whether you should stay in the field or not.

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