TL/DR…placed on 2 lists for reading score increase/math score increase, only given one reward, told it was double what everyone else got when it was a 25 dollar gift card.
So, I am a fifth grade teacher. We have an assessment that we give in several sections 3 times per year…reading and math…honestly takes a full hour to hour and a half over 2 weeks to administer per child…not a big deal, just another thing to plan in the day.
It shows growth in math computation skills, math concepts, and various reading comprehension skills.
Yesterday, we got an email that the top 4 in the school (27 teachers, k-5) in both reading and math would geta prize…Lo and behold, I am second in the school in math! Cha ching…a candy bar for me…oh…wait! I'm FOURTH in reading…TWO candy bars! (BTW, the three classes that beat me in reading growth were ALL kindergarten…those letters…so hard…)
An hour into the school day, the AP comes into the room…Congrats, here is your reward…it is a $25 gift card for Bezos's enrichment! Hey wait, you had 8 rewards and I won two spots. Don't I get two?
No, uhm…they are already combined…OK, weird that the other winners got $12.50…I will believe that when the GOP prioritizes education in the inner city over capital gains taxes…
Later in the day, I go to the teacher and her co teacher (lots of IEPs) and congratulate them…they congratulate me…did you get your gift card?
Yup…25 smackers…
We got FIFTY! 25 each!
(Now, consider that there are two of them and they are in the second year with the same kids (they moved up with them) and they only beat me by 1%, (31% to 30%) well…did they REALLY do better than me…NOPE)
(sorry, moment of weakness) Seriously, I love this teaching duo. I've only been in this school a year and I've taught (way) in the past, but they are my mentors at this new place…If the AP had said only one card per winner, I would have replied…haha that sucks but OK….If the AP had said 'we had 8 cards and the winning class had two teachers so we thought it would be nice to give your second card to the SPED teacher' I would have FULLY supported that decision.
But this guy, who is ten years younger than me and an AP, expected me to believe that they bought 6 cards worth $12.50 and ONE card worth $25 because he was unsure that a 52 year old white man who CHOOSES to teach in the inner city would begrudge another teacher a 25 dollar gift card.
Is it petty? Yes. But I don't begrudge the card. I begrudge the LIE.
The pattern here is to treat me like I am an idiot, when my 27 fifth graders showed the most overall growth in the whole damn school…I don't care about the money, but read the room when you choose to lie.