Ding! Dong! The Wicked Witch is Dead...

Well, just gone really. I don't ever wish for anyone to die because karma is a bitch. This past week, the Jealous Bitch co-worker who has consistently tried to set me up to look stupid finally got a job somewhere else. I could never understand why after nearly 2 years, she still couldn't get over the fact that I got the job she thought she deserved. And it's not like I hired myself, right? However, she really gunned for me a lot, and has uttered many a foul word about me...many times right outside my office door. Granted, she gave me some puky fake apology (mostly because she was worried that the reference call would hit my phone first), but I was burned too many times. Silly bitch. Here are the highlights:

1. The first 3 months I was there, she refused to acknowledge my presence. When she finally did, she asked me how old I was. When I told her, she said, "Oh wow! We're the same age. I thought you were younger." I know, it sounds nice right? But then the follow up: "You're not married? Really? No kids? Do you not like kids? I guess that's why you got the job. They don't have to worry about you missing work or working late since you don't have a husband or kids to worry about. " And it wasn't said in a nice way either. BTW she has a brood who are sicker than any children I have ever met, and she trashes her husband all the time. She missed like 38 days this year because her kids were sick.

2. In a discussion with the math department (of which I was over seeing as how I have 12 yrs as a math teacher under my belt...all levels), I made this suggestion when she commented about how the students didn't know their multiplication tables. " I know exactly what you are saying. However, we can reinforce multiplication skills by remediating at TAKS level (TAKS=Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills) so that we do not use the bulk of instructional time to teach tables. Use homework and warm up times to support their deficiencies. " She then stood up and YELLED, "I KNOW HOW TO TEACH MATH!" I remained calm and responded, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply anything personally directed toward you. I was just making a suggestion to the group." Her: "I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEANT, AND I DON'T APPRECIATE YOU BELITTLING ME! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I CAN DO!!!" At this point, I simply told her that I was sorry if she felt I was doing any such thing, as it was not my intention at all. She promptly stormed out, and I was left with 5 more people looking like they had just seen a car wreck. I found out that she went directly to the other AP and "tattled" on what I had done to her. Then she went to my boss. They both told me later.

3. She came to my office a few weeks later and grilled me about my certification. When I told her that I had to take the TX test, she said, "You mean you aren't even certified yet?" to which I replied, "Yes, I am certified as a principal in the state of CA. So they gave me an emergency one-yr cert here, and I only have to take the TX test to certify here. " She replied, "I can't believe they hired you and not me. I'm taking my test at the same time!" I replied, "Yes, but I don't have any coursework left. I have a matriculated masters. " She left in a huff and went straight to my boss to complain. He told me about it later that day.

4. As mentioned above, I was over the math dept., so I was set to evaluate/appraise most of the math teachers...including Jealous Bitch (JB). So I actually let her tell me what day and period she would like me to come for the 45 min appraisal. Then, about a month later, I was gone for 2 days at a conference, and she went to my boss. She cried big crocodile tears to him insisting that she did not want me to appraise her because she just knew she wouldn't get a fair shake. HUH? WTF? And even worse, my boss fell for it and told her he would do it. No one called me. She didn't come to me for a month to tell me that she felt that way or anything else. AND I hadn't had much to do with her for the most part because I simply felt I should give her space.

5. This school year, she has complained to everyone else in the building nonstop that I am too soft on the kids when they come to my office, and that I always ask for her to explain referrals. WTF? I HAVE TO ASK! I'm the one speaking to their fucking parents, dumbass!

6. This spring, she has emailed me incessantly with information on other positions closer to my house. Now before you labor under the false idea that she was being nice to me, think again. She was not getting any interviews, and so she just knew that if I found another job, she would get my job (sorry, that wasn't going to happen either way). Of course, every email and conversation I had with her was about how far I had to drive, and that she understood why I was looking elsewhere. When I told her I wasn't leaving back in mid May, she finally stopped emailing me job alerts. Then she just recently took this job at a charter school in south Dallas.

7. Any time I sent an email to the entire staff, she would reply to ALL to correct any spelling or punctuation mistake I might have made (there were a few here and there).

8. She forced my hand finally when she tried to get me to bail her out during a difficult parent meeting. The fact is, if the teacher is wrong, I can't bail them out. I can say how we will rectify the issue. Had she given me all the facts BEFORE the meeting, I could have helped her out with suggestions on how to approach the parent with her side of it. I didn't let her get attacked, but she did have to answer some pointed questions. After the meeting, she burst into tears and YELLED at me for not helping her enough. I calmly explained that she came with info that I really needed BEFORE the meeting in order to steer the conversation towards resolution, but she did not do that...even when I asked. Again, she went to tell on me to my boss. He told me later.

9. She was the #2 detention and referral writer in the entire school. I wanted to ask her if she really liked kids. She would write kids up for "talking in line" or "making paper airplanes" (not flying them, making them), or the generic favorite "talking". Whenever I questioned her, she would of course go to my boss...and he would tell me later. Dysfunction junction anyone?

10. She would pop in to "chat" about my love life (or lack of) about once per week. She was always fishing for personal stuff from me. It must have been frustrating for her. I'm a vault.

There were several other small issues with her trying to undermind my authority, but I can say confidently that I handled them with grace. I never was rude to her or mean. Oddly enough, she sent me a nice email about how much she had learned from me. She also put in her home email and a "promise to keep in touch" tag. Again, HUH? Anyway, I do hope she is happy...FINALLY.

I will say that when my boss told me she was leaving, I did a little happy dance in my head. I'm a straightforward person, and all that behind the scenes shit she was pulling really made me tired. I don't really hold grudges, particularly when I don't really care about the other person in any significant way. How funny and poetic it would be if I did get another job before the summer is out. Like I said, karma is a big ole bitch.