need advice

I have an interview for a very ideal position next week.


Problem is, my last job (last year) was with an LI district, I worked there for 3 years and was denied tenure. How do I answer the question of Why did you leave your last position without ruining my chances at this one?

TIA

Re: need advice

You could say that a change in school leadership effected your tenure.

Re: need advice

i think it depends on why you were denied tenure. if it was a budgetary thing or something like that, you can say that. but if they were not satisfied with your teaching, then i am not sure what i would do. do you have people from that district serving as references? if so, perhaps they can paint it in a more positive light. if they're not references, districts can probably contact each other to find out the real reason you did not get tenure if you didn't share that on the interview.

this is sticky...again, i think it really depends on why. if it was administrative crap or budgetary, i would say so. otherwise, i might just keep mum... or say something like i was not happy there because of x,y ,z. turn it against them and hope that they don't follow through if it was because of an unsatisfactory rating.

GOOD LUCK!

Message edited 6/11/2009 12:53:57 AM.

Re: need advice

as far as I know a previous school cannot reveal why you were denied tenure...now we all know people know people so at times I am sure it secretly gets out.

The best answer I think would be change in leadership bc that is quite general. Or 3 yrs is the pt of looking at your future and where you see yourself - at that pt you decided that it would be best to re-locate your position/look elsewhere. (leaving any negative details out...and not bashing previous school).

Good Luck!

Re: need advice

this happened to me last year, and i was worried about the same thing.
in my case, the school i didn't get tenure at was right across the street from my house ... i would see all of my kids around my neighborhood ALL the time, and it just got to be kind of annoying. So on my interviews,i explained that to them (well, i didn't tell them that seeing the kids was annoying LOL ). and i just told them that i decided that i wanted a little more seperation between where i worked and where i lived. they seemed to be fine with that, and i got a new job right away. They really didn't push the issue to much.
i think the "change in leadership" would work well, or just keep it simple and say you just wanted a change. good luck!!

Re: need advice