You said many of the things I wanted to say. Its not about the money, even though I did not appreciate a pay cut 8 months into my contract. However, even on my worst day, I go home and feel like I have made a difference and I feel good about teaching. I was notified three days before school was out that my contract as a 6th grade ELA teacher would not be renewed because of the budget cuts. That last few days were hard ones as my students expressed how much they loved me and my class. I did not burden them with my bad news.