no room at the inn
This has been how my summer has gone waiting for my teaching certification.
Now because I received my B.Ed. from an Ontario University, it has meant that I first needed to become certified to teach in Ontario, and then, and only then, could I become certified in Saskatchewan. The process has been long, expensive ($500+), and frustrating. What has made it difficult is what is known as the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT).
This agency regulates who can teach in Ontario, and it even has control over how many students can be accepted into Ontario teaching programs. What this actually translates into is they accept as many members as possible, even if such members are incompetent, because this makes them more money. In Ontario there are upwards of 230,000 teachers certified by the OCT, despite there being only 100,000 teaching positions. Yet, the OCT still certifies an alarming 11,000+ new teachers every year. Even if 50,000 teachers will be retiring in the next ten years, as projected, there will be well over 110,000 new teachers certified during that time. In other words, the backlog of teachers continues to grow at an alarming rate, but the OCT doesn't care, because they make a killing off of certification and membership fees. I recently heard that there is, in Ottawa, essentially a waiting list to get onto a waiting to list to get onto the substitute teaching list. Ridiculous.
Back to my story though. This past summer I finally was certified to teach in Ontario. The process took an extra 6-8 weeks. Why? Because my criminal record check had an initial missing. I then went to the local Nipawin RCMP to explain that I needed a new record check, and the staff sargeant couldn't believe that the OCT rejected my original copy. He just shook his head. But that's the OCT for you.
Now as I finally was certified to teach in Ontario, (their membership card is a small piece of paper... it's not even plastic or cardstock) I needed the OCT to send a letter to the Sask. ministry of Education saying that I am a member in good standing. Wait though! They said they had to wait a few weeks to send a letter. Why? Because in order to be in good standing it is necessary that I be a member for a little bit (?...um...why would you accept me as a member if I wasn't fit to teach?...). Finally, though, they sent that letter, for a small fee of $26. The letter just arrived in Saskatchewan, and I was promptly certified to teach here. And for the record, the Sask teacher certification card is actual plastic.
Now I just need my actual teaching certificate to come in the mail so that I can photocopy it and send it out with job applications. What a long process! What's worse is that obviously the teaching jobs have come and gone. It's hard to have an application taken seriously when instead of sending in a copy of a teaching certificate the best you can do is say: "um, I hope to be certified soon..." And so, just like my analogy with the football tickets, my teaching ticket has arrived late, and the stadium is now full.
But God has a reason for everything. That is one point I will never doubt. As long as we try our best, and trust, everything will turn out. Until then, though, there's always Joseph to cheer me up!
the stadium might be full, but we'll have our own little game outside