Part Time is the New Full Time

When I graduated from college and set out to be a teacher, full time positions were the norm among all schools. Since our economy and public school funding has crashed in the last few years, 'part time' is the new full time.

In most public schools now, aide postions are all part time. However, part time does not just mean half the day anymore! A friend of mine is a part time aide in the school I work in. Her hours are 8:30  am to 3:30 pm five days a week. However, her lunch is scheduled for 1 1/2 hours, so that she can be considered part time and not recieve benefits. Plus, she is paid hourly, not salary! I think its crazy!

A scary thing that I am seeing are that special ed. positions are becoming more and more part time. For example, my school has 5 part time special ed. teachers. I wouldn't be surprised if next year, the non-tenured full timers get pushed to part time as well. Ugh!