Kudos to someone going by the name of 43rd@43rd for pointing out that the name Absent Teacher Reserve (ATR) is misleading.
The members of this sorry group are not the ones who are absent; I, for one, have over 40 days in my "bank" of unused sick days and personal days.
Nor are the members of this group being held in reserve. Are we like a military reserve, working at civilian jobs or lounging at a base while others fight the war? No, we are out on the front lines of teaching just like all other teachers. Our only unique feature is that we go to battle with one hand tied behind our back: no schedule, no class lists, no curriculum, no grades with which to motivate, little or no support from administration.
This coming year, many of us will have our second hand twisted and tied behind our back: we will be moved from school to school on a weekly basis. We won't be absent, but we might be late sometimes, trying to find our way to a new school each week.
At least one part of our name is accurate: TEACHER.
