12. A Visit To The State Capitol

A Visit To The State Capitol

In 2013 sent my story to all of my federal and state legislators.  I sent it to the Executive Director of Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC), the person I could never contact directly.  There would be no danger in sending this to her, since she never reads my stuff anyway.

My state legislator, Vicki Berger, read it.  She contacted me and asked, “What can my office do for you?”  I told her that I wanted TSPC to read my request for a FACS endorsement.  She contacted the Executive Director of TSPC and got her attention.  Within a few days I had an email from the Executive Director of TSPC.  Vicki Berger is a rock star.

This email, from the Executive Director, said that not only am I eligible for the FACS endorsement, but also that I should have had it all along!  She said that my transcript, my FACS Praxis test, my career experiences and my prior college and graduate school teaching in the subject area qualify me for the endorsement.

Nice to know.  I suppose I could have told that to the HR departments of various school districts, “Oh, I should have the FACS endorsement you need.”  We all knew that already.  But I didn’t have it, so those jobs went to other candidates while I was ineligible to interview.

  

How do I actually get the endorsement printed onto my license?  She offered no instructions for going forward.  Maybe I print up the email and take it with me to job interviews.  I can tell people “TSPC says I can have this.”

The email box from which she sent it was called a generic “contact”.  Every email reply I have ever received from TSPC is from this same address.  This is the only address I have had to use.

She said that she was sorry I had not been able to reach her agency.  I was in her agency in person in two different locations (before and after they moved), left hard copy documents for her, plus phone calls, mail and email multiple times over the years.  I had no problem reaching her agency – she was the one I couldn’t reach – the decision-maker.  She said that they handle 20,000 inquiries per year.   I always got an answer, always from someone who told me to go back to the university FACS programs for which I was over-qualified.  I tried to be heard.  I wasn't. 

I have opted to substitute teach on a General Substitute License rather than return to graduate school to renew my license at this time.  This is the most logical and cost-effective avenue right now, given my other employment options.  Maybe this was a mistake.  She pointed this out – the FACS endorsement is a moot point, since I don’t have a current license.  She reminded me that I need to get 9 graduate-level quarter credits or 6 graduate-level semester credits to renew my license, then I can have the FACS endorsement.

I was mistaken here too.  I thought it would take 4.5 credits to renew my license.  Nope -- it was 9.  Had I renewed the Initial I before it expired, I could have done it with half the graduate credits, and then had a few years on the new license to complete the other half of the required graduate credits.  Now I would have to do them all up-front.  The objective is to make sure that every teacher in Oregon has a Masters degree.

I already have a Masters degree.  In fact, over-qualification has been my problem all along.  Now I have to get even more graduate school credits in order to apply for jobs.

I made a bold move.  I wrote back to her, and asked that the additional graduate credit requirement be waived in light of my already having an over-qualification problem.  I asked that my license please be renewed now, endorsed in Chemistry, Biology and FACS.

I made an appointment to see Vicki Berger.  The Legislature is in session, so she offered to see me during their afternoon break.  I went to the Oregon State Capitol, which is a busy place during session, and found her office.  I thanked her for her help.  I produced the letter I wrote to TSPC with my request.

  

She arched an eyebrow and agreed that it was a bold move.  She said that she really can’t ask them to do this for me.  I told her I wasn’t asking her to lean on them, I just wanted to meet her in person, thank her, and inform her of my next step.  I gave her a copy of my letter and my resume.

My next stop was TSPC.  I took the letter in person, along with my resume and a printed copy of the email the director sent me.  I had to leave it at the front desk, of course, and they assured me that they would give it to her.  They had some Valentine candy for me.

I hit the reply button on her email promising me the endorsement.  I pasted a copy of my letter there and sent it to that “contact” address.  She has been sent my request via hand-delivered paper letter and email.

I received the standard replies from “contact” by email.  They acknowledged receipt of my documents.  They acknowledged receipt of my email.  They said they are overloaded and will get back to me within a few months.  The same runaround as ever, exactly how it’s been with every encounter.

Do you remember in Raiders of The Lost Ark, after all they go through to get the Ark, it then gets tucked away into a vast warehouse of junk, where it will never be seen again?  

I started this when I was 48.  I visited my representative when I was 54.  The years were slipping away.