Korean Job Discussion Forums

Darkray16 · Joined: 09 Nov 2008

long story short. I did everything possible to accomodate my school and help them after I gave my 30 day notice, even staying in a motel while they find a new teacher. Now they are basically saying, screw you, we won't give you a letter of release after all that. They decided to wait until the day before a new teacher showed to tell me this. Up until now(I was told a few minutes ago) they just ignored the question or wouldn't pick up my calls when I left a message about the letter.

Watchout. I expected dirty ModEdit like this from hagwons, not from public schools. This is not the first time I've heard of this problem. Seems like they like to go the extra mile to "punish" teachers who don't finish their contract, but still follow it.

For other people working in Busan, the person who told me they were going to screw me over was Choi Mi Young, of Busan Office of Education. My school, Choeup Middle School, was great though.

Chalk this up to another one of those cautionary tales of how many Koreans(not all) put on a nice face when everything is going great, but the moment any problems arise, they turn into heartless vindictive ModEdit.

lifeinkorea · Joined: 24 Jan 2009 Location: somewhere in China

blonde researcher · Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 11:59 pm Post subject:

How long had you been at the school before you called it quits and gave notice?
The school and the office of education would have been put out having to hire in a new person to take your place. Students have to get used to a new teacher etc.
Did you use a recruiter? In BMOE the recruiter has to refund your recruitment fee or send another teacher for free if you leave before 6 months. Did your departure leave an upset out of pocket recruiter?

I guess maybe they were not happy about the situation either with your giving the 30 day notice. If the school/office of education could see you were simply moving to 'greener' pastures and not honoring your contract to them, then why should they want o give you a letter of release? Just 'abiding' by the 30 day clause in your contract is not the only reason to get an letter of release.
Also you said your school was great, so why did you leave, maybe a better job offer came in somewhere else and you just wanted to jump?

Darkray16 · Joined: 09 Nov 2008

I am moving to Seoul because that' where my wife lives. Paying rent for two apartments and KTX train tickets every weekend was cutting my salary in half.

to lifeinkorea:
My school was about to give me my letter of release, until the district office told them to stop. I have treated my school well and they treated me well. The Busan District Office are ModEdit.

to: blond researcher

I have been at the school almost 7 months. I specifically waited until before the new EPIK orientation to give my notice. They don't assign teachers to schools until a few days before the end of orientation. The school and students were happy about my performance and understand my reason for leaving. I am leaving after 6 months so the recruiter is fine.

If I wanted to be an ModEdit I would have left with no notice since that's how I am being treated by the district anyways. I But no, I don't want to cause any problems for my school. Basically, I could have broken my contract and did a midnight run, but I put in time and even checked into a motel to wait out a month(I found a replacement for my apt). I understand that they aren't obligated to acting in a courteous manner no matter how I treated them. I suppose I was hoping they had the decency to though.

halfmanhalfbiscuit · Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Location: Seoul

If your wife is Korean you don't need any LOR on an F2 visa.

Darkray16 · Joined: 09 Nov 2008

no I am not on an F series visa. but i will be next year, so I'm hoping to coast along the next few months til I can change my visa.

CentralCali · Joined: 17 May 2007

marlow · Joined: 06 Feb 2005

If giving the notice as the contract states is wrong, then what could possibly be right?

hobakmorinam · Joined: 22 Dec 2008

Go to the boe and park your ass in the second floor where she works. don't leave till you get one.

Also, if you are on a single entry visa, it will be automatically canceled if you leave the country.

Aelric · Joined: 02 Mar 2009

Choi Mi Young did that? She must have had her hands tied from higher ups then, because my experience with her has been tip top. Sorry that happened to you. I've heard stores about the Busan office before, both good and bad. Seems there is an unlucky lottery as to who gets screwed.

pie eater · Joined: 07 Jul 2009 Location: The Bando

CentralCali · Joined: 17 May 2007

And let's not forget this "letter of release" requirement isn't even legal in the first place!

Darkray16 · Joined: 09 Nov 2008

I don't want to misstate my gripe with them. I was allowed to quit, and they are allowed to cancel my visa and force me to leave the country.

The problem is I treated them kindly and with respect and understanding, I expected some human decency in return. I was wrong.

I guess the everyone should learn from this is look out for number 1(you) and no one else except family while your in Korea. They will turn their back and even go the extra mile to be vindictive if they don't get their way no matter how well you bend over backwards for them.

Oh and no, Choi Mi Young defended her decision and basically said this is what I deserve.

Draz · Joined: 27 Jun 2007 Location: Land of Morning Clam

Didn't you have a thread a little while back about whether you should be decent or pull a runner?

I had a similar situation but I never expected a release letter anyway. Public schools don't generally give them, and I didn't do enough of my contract anyway, and even if none of that is actually true it just seemed easier to cancel the visa and get another one than deal with it all.

ontheway · Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 8:33 am Post subject:

So, let's see:

The public schools hire people, then cancel contracts. They screw the teachers out of their expenses, even airfare that was incurred by the teacher who was honoring the contract.

The public schools strong arm their recruiters into accepting less money and demand unjustified refunds.

The public schools fire people who attempt to quit according to the contract.

The public schools cheat people out of their severence and return flight if they can, by getting them to leave early or switch to slightly short contracts.

The public schools are filled with co-teacher and personality problems.

The public schools teach absolutely nothing anyway, and all the children go to hogwans after school to actually learn.

The public school teachers are really just baby sitters.

Public schools have lower pay levels than hogwans.

So, the Korean public school system is more than a crapshoot. It's become the worst of all: a huge chain school that takes advantage of teachers, teaches nothing, cheats teachers at the drop of a hat, offers low pay, huge class sizes, no teaching satisfaction - just babysitting, breaks contracts, refuses to honor their side when the teacher honors theirs ... and, after all that, they have the power of the government on their side to make it that much harder to fight back.

Oh yeah, they used to have great vacations.

Damn. The OP honored his contract and resigned according to its terms. He deserves a letter of release.

Sometimes Korea is a little depressing.